Unwilling Consort
by Aria6
Summary: After the Winter War, Kurosaki's powers have been coming back, but he doesn't realize it. Unfortunately, his inner hollow has revived first and finds a way to exploit that fact. Now, he's given Kurosaki a problem in the form of a blue haired arrancar. What will happen? Implied non-con, lemons, mpreg. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The hollow smiled as he walked into the abandoned, condemned building.

If anyone had been there to see him, they would have died. But before they perished, they would have seen a dead white teenager with odd, black and gold eyes. He slipped soundlessly through the darkening shadows, going deep into the building. There were gaping holes in the floor, places where the building had collapsed, but he floated over them without a care. He did not have mortal limitations.

Neither did the person he was going to see. Smirking wickedly, the hollow opened the final door, swinging it open with a creak of long neglected hinges. Stepping confidently into the room, he gazed down at his prize.

The blue haired man was kneeling, arms and legs held in a very uncomfortable position with nothing but silken cords. He could have broken them with hardly any effort, but instead he held that pose, pale skin lightly sheened with sweat and muscles trembling with the strain. The albino smirked. Even a few weeks ago, he'd have needed to put chains on this man to keep him in this state. But now, everything was different.

Ichigo was unaware of the fact that his powers were returning. The Winter War was done, Aizen was imprisoned, and Ichigo's inner hollow had been the first thing to reawaken. He was taking care not to let Ichigo become aware of that fact. It was going to come as such a surprise, when he finally found out what his hollow had been up to.

By carefully husbanding Ichigo's regrowing spiritual energy, the hollow had managed to take a physical form. And as soon as it was powerful enough – which had actually taken almost six months – it had made a trip to Hueco Mundo in search of prey.

Grimmjow had not been the specific target, but when the panther had tried to pounce, it had all become so obvious. Going to Hueco Mundo repeatedly would be a tremendous drain on Ichigo's hollow. Why not just take a toy, to pass the time with? And Grimmjow was an absolutely lovely toy. The hollow smiled as he ran a hand through silky blue strands, looking at the blue collar on the arrancar's neck. It was a lovely little thing he'd made and fused with Grimmjow's own power. The little silver heart on the front was particularly endearing.

"Have you missed me, pet?" He purred into the Espada's ear, no longer worried about a bite. Grimmjow was utterly submissive now, for reasons that would be obvious to any hollow. But when he looked into those blank blue eyes, he still saw a sparkle of hate. Grimmjow was not broken, and he would not have had it any other way.

There was no reply, not that he had expected one. The arrancar refused to speak to him except when it was absolutely necessary, a petty gesture of defiance. The hollow began undoing his bonds, smiling at Grimmjow's soft groan as he was finally allowed to slump to the floor, muscles twitching. He stroked the Espada's hair again for a moment, smiling again as he flinched. Then he began undoing the obi that held up his hakama.

"It's feeding time, Grimmjow." He said with mock sweetness and the arrancar lifted his head, the hatred shining even brighter in those beautiful blue eyes. But he only pushed himself up and crawled over to his master, waiting for the chance to feed.

This little ritual wasn't necessary. The hollow could have allowed Grimmjow to feed on his blood, or even just fed the power to him directly, although the last would have required skill and patience. But instead, he had chosen the most pleasurable method of feeding his pet. The fact that Grimmjow found it so degrading was an added bonus.

"Mmm." The albino hummed softly as a warm, wet mouth clamped down on his erect cock. If he'd been human, the angry pressure would have hurt, but he was far from human. To his hierro enhanced skin, it was a pleasant stimulation. And the Espada was going at him like a bitch in heat, sucking hard and doing all the things he knew the hollow liked best. The albino grinned to himself as his unwilling partner fondled his sac. He knew Grimmjow just wanted the feeding over and done with, but he was not going to make it easy for the man to satisfy him.

He spread his legs a bit more, black and gold eyes half-closed as he watched that blue head bob, moving up and down his cock. It was very pleasant, and he gradually let Grimmjow build him up, feeling the tightening in his balls and the pleasure coiling in his belly. He rested his hands on the arrancar's shoulders, his breaths coming in quick pants before he released. He gave the other man no warning, and Grimmjow choked for a moment before swallowing his… food. The hollow smiled blissfully at the thought.

"Now, pet." He said softly, watching Grimmjow with an amused and sadistic gaze. "I believe you have something to say to me?" The blue haired man froze, fear and more hate chasing across those lovely blue eyes.

"Master?" He ventured, not understand. The hollow sneered, gripping his hair and yanking his head so far back that his neck was straining from the pressure.

"About your… condition, pet." He said softly and watched as Grimmjow stiffened. "Did you think I wouldn't notice the change in you?" From the look on his face, Grimmjow had earnestly hoped he wouldn't. But he hadn't expected it, if the furious glint in his eyes was any indication.

"No master." Grimmjow choked on the words and the hollow grinned. The truth was, he loved those little expressions of defiance and rage. He could have broken Grimmjow utterly, shattered the Espada's pride and likely his sanity as well. But what fun would a broken toy be? No, he appreciated those displays, almost cherished them. It was fun to dominate the arrancar, knowing that the man hated him with every fibre of his being yet could do nothing about it. "Please…" Grimmjow swallowed, and the hollow felt a jolt of sadistic pleasure. He knew how hard pleading came to this prideful creature. "Don't… take my cubs."

"Hmmm." The hollow pretended to think about it. The truth was, he'd already decided. He was fascinated to see what the Espada would produce, and also how Kurosaki would deal with this turn of events. His so-called King was technically the father, in a lot of ways. He would be overjoyed to find out about his brand new 'family'. Of course, letting Grimmjow keep his pregnancy would mean giving up his toy and being shut into Ichigo's inner world again. But that was coming anyway. Zangetsu was going to be reviving soon, and when his shinigami powers returned Ichigo would finally realize that his hollow was still there.

Pretending to think about it, though, let him savor the rage and fear in glorious blue eyes. He thought he'd never seen a color quite as vibrant and alive as Grimmjow's eyes. And he was beautiful when he was trembling with tension.

"You actually want them, pet?" The hollow whispered, just to tease the Espada. He knew Grimmjow's feline instincts had kicked in, and the arrancar was absolutely desperate to protect his young. The fact that the danger was their sire made his desires even more frantic. "They tie you to me, forever. I wonder if they'll look like me?" Grimmjow just looked away and the albino's eyes narrowed before he grabbed the arrancar's chin, jerking him so the man was forced to look at him. "Answer me, Grimmjow."

"I want them." Grimmjow said, his voice harsh and hopeless. He was expecting a miscarriage. The hollow could see it from the look in his eyes. He smiled, slowly releasing the Espada's chin.

"Good." He purred, smiling at the surprise and wariness in those lovely blue eyes. "But this means I can't keep you, pet." Even more wariness and a touch of fear, now. His emotions were so easy to read, but the albino had plenty of practice. "This is no place to raise cubs. You need a better environment. I think I'll take you home to my King."

"No!" Grimmjow snarled immediately and the hollow smiled dreamily before hitting him. It was no open handed slap, it was a hard punch to the jaw that laid Grimmjow out with a small, muffled sound of pain.

"What was that, pet?" He asked pleasantly and Grimmjow had the good sense to just lay there, panting softly and trembling. There was already a large bruise forming on pale skin. With the collar in place, Grimmjow had very little Hierro, and soon that bruise would be very ugly and painful. "Any more objections?" He waited a moment and Grimmjow closed his eyes. "I thought not. Come." He gripped the collar with a sadistic smile.

He was looking forward to seeing Ichigo's reaction to his little present.

* * *

Grimmjow gripped a pale wrist with one hand, trying to keep the collar from choking him as he was dragged out of the building.

The thought of Kurosaki seeing him like this, beaten, naked, _raped,_ made him want to scream. It made him want to rage and kill, to vent his destruction on this unsuspecting world. And most of all, he wanted to kill the monster in front of him.

He looked like Kurosaki, but he was nothing like the shinigami Grimmjow had fought, the man who had gently lowered him onto the sand. The thing had explained that he was part of Ichigo's power, part of his soul, and Grimmjow wondered how the kid had produced something so sadistic. He had to have some impressive mental scars hidden away.

He stumbled and almost choked for a moment as the pale hand dragged him on. The albino didn't even look back and Grimmjow fixed his gaze on the back of his neck, imagining that white skin covered in blood. Blood he would slowly lick away before sinking his fangs deeper into that flesh, rending and tearing and _eating._ Devouring his enemy until there was nothing more than shards of flesh in the sands.

Grimmjow stopped as they reached the door to outside. He could fly, but it was weak and halting. The hollow in front of him knew that and he grimaced as white hands gripped him, then tossed him over his shoulder like a bag of rice. Vaguely, Grimmjow wished he wasn't naked. It wasn't that he gave a damn about clothes – it had actually taken some effort for Aizen to convince him to wear them – but he'd feel less vulnerable in front of Kurosaki. Maybe he could even have hidden a bit of what had been done to him. He wouldn't be hiding a damned thing, now.

But he had no choice in the matter at all, not if he wanted to save his cubs. Grimmjow knew it was insane. He was in no condition to bring out new life, and the situation couldn't be worse, with this sadistic creature for a sire. But he had nothing else to live for, now, except perhaps dreams of revenge. And they were more along the lines of fantasies. This budding life in his abdomen was all too real.

With the speed the hollow moved at, it didn't take them long to reach Ichigo's home. The albino pulled open the window easily, then pushed Grimmjow through. He had to fight to keep his balance and avoid falling onto the sleeping teenager under the window. Kurosaki just mumbled something as he accidentally touched the shinigami's leg, turning a bit in his sleep.

"I have a lovely view back here." That got Grimmjow moving instantly and he turned around to watch his master easily slip through the window, grinning that disturbing, insane grin of his. "Kneel, pet. You should greet the King on your knees." The desire to kill rose like a blood red madness behind his eyes, but Grimmjow managed to swallow his pride. The cubs were depending on him, and he had no doubt their 'sire' could and would beat him into a miscarriage. He fell to his knees, tasting bile in the back of his throat.

_What will Kurosaki think when he sees me like this?_ Grimmjow thought bitterly as the hollow vanished, going into Ichigo's inner world. _Fucker always looked down on me. Well, now he has something to look down on. I swear I will kill him someday._ Grimmjow reached up to tug on the collar, hissing at the small stab of pain that action gave him. It was meshed with his own reiatsu, and he couldn't remove it without killing himself. It was constantly draining his power, too, like the eyepatch that shinigami who'd killed Nnoitra wore. If he was going to kill anything more threatening than a newborn kitten that collar had to go.

Then brown eyes opened and bitter, angry blue eyes met them.

"Grimmjow?" Ichigo ran a hand over his face and Grimmjow dearly wished he dared spit in the teen's face. "No… this is a dream…" He said, curling back up into his blankets. Grimmjow cringed slightly as he heard a titter in the air. "What!" Ichigo suddenly sat bolt upright, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "No…" He sucked in a noisy breath, and Grimmjow could guess what was going on. That sick fuck was telling his 'King' what was going on. "Grimmjow? You're real?" Ichigo sounded confused, brown eyes sliding down his exposed body. "You're… naked."

"No shit!" Grimmjow snapped, then gasped as another bolt of pain went through the collar. It seemed his rapist had left himself with a way to punish his 'pet'. Grimmjow resisted it, too prideful and furious to give in easily. But then he felt the power reach for the spark in his abdomen. "F-Forgive me." He managed to say, kneeling on all fours and lowering his head.

_Address him properly, pet._ The voice was in his head, probably coming through that fucking collar. The naked threat in that tone made his skin go cold. Grimmjow swallowed hard. He knew what the albino wanted. What he had to give, if he wanted the life inside him to survive.

"…King." He'd never done anything that hard in his life. Saying that word to Kurosaki was more painful than a Getsuga Tenshou to the chest. He stared at the floor, breathing heavily as he held onto the tattered shreds of his pride. Then he lifted his head in surprise as Kurosaki was suddenly kneeling beside him.

"What in hell has he done to you?" Grimmjow blinked, glancing over at the teen carefully. Ichigo sounded furious, and there was a steely glint in those brown eyes. "I am going to gut that son of a bitch! And you shut up." That was clearly directed at his inner hollow. Ichigo was scowling, his usual expression as far as Grimmjow could tell. "Grimmjow, I'm sorry. Here… you take the bed." The teen said softly and Grimmjow hesitated. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, really sleep. He hadn't been able to sleep a bit, with those silk ties and threats holding him in place. All the stress wasn't good for the cubs, but since when did that sadist care about that?

"Uh…" This offer was unexpected, though, and Grimmjow immediately looked for a catch. "I don't need your sympathy, Kurosaki." He said sullenly then tensed, waiting for a bite of pain. It didn't come and he blinked. "I'll sleep on the floor." Just being about to sleep, period, would be a godsend. Then he tensed as he saw Kurosaki staring at his chest.

"Why has your hollow hole moved?" He asked, resting a hand on sculpted pecs. Grimmjow had managed to keep himself in good shape, despite everything. The blue haired man scowled.

"Because I'm carrying cubs, dumbass." He snapped then cringed at another titter in his mind. But there was still no punishment. Did the hollow not care what he said to Kurosaki? He was distracted from that thought as the teen's eyes went wide and his face went pale.

"Wait, what? No, you can't be!" His gaze turned inward and there was a long silence in the room as he communed with his inner hollow. Grimmjow just watched him, warily. "That is sick!" Ichigo said as he finally turned his attention outwards again. "Okay, no more arguments. You're taking the bed. I'm not going to have a pregnant – person sleeping on the floor." Grimmjow hissed in irritation.

"Look, I don't want the damned bed. We didn't have beds in Hueco Mundo, I slept on the floor. Just… a blanket would be nice." Grimmjow said, managing to hold back his hate. It was the albino's fault the cold air bothered him. Hierro had always protected him from the elements, made it so the cold or heat didn't bother him at all. Now, it was almost gone, and the cold air from the open window bit at his bare skin. Kurosaki glanced down, a blush staining those pale cheeks before he glanced up.

"I don't think I have any clothes that would fit you." He muttered and Grimmjow just looked at him. This was his problem. "Okay, fine. You can sleep on the floor." He quickly stripped the comforter off his bed and Grimmjow gripped the fabric, curling into a ball. He was desperate for sleep. It would be good for him and the cubs as well. "We'll talk about this in the morning." He just grunted before closing his eyes. But he waited until he heard Kurosaki's weight on his bed before he allowed himself to drop off into a light doze.

He didn't trust in his safety enough to sleep deeply, but anything would help.


	2. Tests and Information

Ichigo woke up in the morning wondering if it was all a dream.

Unfortunately, the person on the floor of his room was all too real. Ichigo stared down at the comforter on the floor, wishing he'd just kicked it off the bed. He couldn't see Grimmjow at all, the panther was hidden under it completely.

Biting his lip, Ichigo rested his face in his hands. The conversation he'd had with his hollow the previous night had been short and to the point.

"_Hello King. I've had my fun while you've been oblivious, but Zangetsu will be coming back to you soon. So here's my pet. Take good care of him, feed him every day. He's going to be littering before too long."_

"_What?! Grimmjow would never lie down for you willingly!"_

"_Hahaha… did I say anything about it being willing?"_

Ichigo sighed and stood up. He didn't bother looking through his own closet. He carefully stepped over Grimmjow and went to see if his dad was gone. He was, so Ichigo stole into his room and rummaged through his closet, looking for something, anything the arrancar could wear. He found an old sweatshirt and jeans that would probably fit him pretty well. He brought them back to his room, setting them on the bed before carefully tugging on the edge of the comforter.

"Grimmjow? Are you awake?" He said softly, then the blanket moved a little and wary blue eyes peered out at him. "I've gotten some clothes for you. Do you need a shower?" He was trying to be polite, but the truth was, the arrancar smelled. It wasn't necessarily a bad smell – Ichigo didn't think hollows needed to bathe – but it was distinctive and very musky.

"Yeah." Grimmjow muttered, sliding out of the blankets but refusing to look at him. Ichigo swallowed as he saw all the marks on Grimmjow's body. They were all healed, but it looked like someone had been whittling on him regularly.

"I need to go beat the shit out of him." Ichigo muttered, remembering his inner hollow. Now that he was aware of his spiritual pressure again, he'd erected barriers to prevent him from escaping. "Shit." He couldn't believe his hollow had just appeared and dropped this complete shit cake in his lap. What in hell was he supposed to do? Ichigo sighed as he heard the water running. How was he going to explain this to his family?

Well, first he needed to understand it himself. How in hell was Grimmjow pregnant? He was clearly _male._ At least, Ichigo thought he was, and he wasn't going to try to check. Grimmjow would punch him in the face. Or even worse, he might not, after what his hollow had done to him. Just the thought made him feel sick.

Grimmjow came back into the room, a towel wrapped firmly around his waist. Emotion flickered over those blue eyes as he looked at Ichigo, but the teen couldn't identify it before it was gone. Ichigo handed him the clothes and he began to get dressed, turning away. Ichigo swallowed and looked away. Then he glanced back as the rustling of fabric stopped.

"Okay. Um… I think everyone else has already left. Are you hungry?" Ichigo asked and was surprised as the arrancar gave him a strange look. There was something ugly in his eyes, yet a strangely torn look on his face.

"I… could use some more." Grimmjow said reluctantly. "For the cubs." He rested a hand on his abdomen, which had no hollow hole. It had migrated to almost the same position as Ulquiorra's, dead in the centre of his chest. Ichigo nodded.

"Okay. C'mon." Ichigo jumped up from his bed, completely missing the confusion on Grimmjow's face. "I'll make you some breakfast." He left the room, oblivious to the hollow's hesitation. Grimmjow finally followed him, unable to make sense of what Ichigo was doing.

"Um…" Ichigo looked up as he began cracking eggs into a pan. Grimmjow was sitting at the table and watching him with a mildly pained expression. "You know I don't eat that kind of food, right?" He said and Ichigo stopped, immediately feeling like a complete moron. He glanced down at the eggs in his pan, wincing before he turned back to Grimmjow.

"You can't eat it at all?" He questioned and Grimmjow shrugged.

"Well, I can eat it. Hollow's will eat anything. But it ain't gonna do me and the cubs much good, Kurosaki." Ichigo frowned as Grimmjow refused to meet his eyes. His gaze was wandering around the table as if he was trying to find something to settle on. "I'm not that hungry right now though. I can wait a bit."

"Um, okay." Ichigo hesitated. He knew how hollows fed, of course. But surely… "My inner hollow wasn't hunting other hollows for you, was he?" He asked apprehensively. Bringing live hollows to Grimmjow to be devoured would be a nuisance, and it would eat up a lot of time he was supposed to be sleeping. Even worse, Ichigo wasn't sure the hollows in the living world would be strong enough for an Espada. But Grimmjow snorted.

"On the weak shit around here? Please, don't make me laugh." Grimmjow stared down at the table for a moment. "He made me feed on your power." He finally said, very reluctantly. Ichigo frowned.

"How did he do that?" Ichigo had no idea how to pull reiatsu from himself and put it into Grimmjow without hurting him. The furious glare that suddenly stabbed at him rooted him to the spot.

"He made me blow him off every night!" Grimmjow suddenly exploded. "Are you happy? Does it make you feel good, Kurosaki, seeing what a fucking bitch I've turned into? You've always looked down on me you motherfuck-" Grimmjow stopped dead, rocking back and gripping his collar. Ichigo stared, more alarmed by the sudden stop than by the rant. That rant had been pure Grimmjow. "F-Forgive me. King." Grimmjow said, his voice rasping painfully as he set his forehead down on the table. Ichigo's eyes widened in horror as he turned his attention to his inner world.

"_What in hell did you just do to him?" Ichigo snarled as he manifested. To his slight distress, his inner world still looked like Karakura town, rather than the skyscrapers it had once been. His inner hollow was sitting on a roof and grinning at him. It was wearing a white silk jacket with black fur cuffs, and the usual obi and hakama._

"_I just reminded him of his place… King." He said with a smirk and Ichigo wanted to strangle him. Instead, he drew his sword, pointing it at his white double._

"_I am going to end you." He said, his tone deadly. The hollow laughed, pulling out his sword._

"_Try it, King!" Of course, it was futile. Ichigo couldn't kill his hollow, any more than his hollow could kill him. They were the same person. But he could beat the living shit out of him, and their fight was absolutely vicious. By the time they were done, they were both hurt and panting. "Hehe. You look just as torn up as I am, King. Not much of a point." Ichigo snarled then spat on the ground in front of him. The hollow actually looked surprised. "You picking up bad habits from our pet already?"_

"_You disgust me! Don't you dare touch him again!" He snarled. "As soon as Zangetsu gets back, we'll put a stop to that!" Zangetsu could keep his hollow from reaching out, if the zanpakuto complied. The hollow frowned for a moment, then shrugged._

"_Whine whine, bitch bitch. You better go help yer pet, he's managed to burn himself." Ichigo blinked and immediately turned his attention outward –_

To find the kitchen full of smoke and Grimmjow swearing and holding his hand out and away from him, gripping his arm with his other hand. It only took him a moment to figure out what had happened. The eggs had burned while he'd been zoned out, and Grimmjow hadn't realized he needed to use a potholder to grip the pan. Now the cast iron frying pan was on the floor and charred eggs were everywhere. Ichigo bit his lip, gripping Grimmjow's elbow.

"Sorry. I just had a fight with my hollow. Let's put this under water." He turned on the kitchen sink, running cold water and guiding Grimmjow's hand under the flow. The Espada watched nervously, then winced as the cold water hit his palm. "Haven't you ever had a burn before?" Ichigo asked, a little puzzled. Grimmjow just looked away.

"Not like this. Just really bad shit, the kind of burns you go to the medic for. If my hierro were working worth shit that wouldn't have hurt." Grimmjow said and Ichigo frowned.

"Your hierro doesn't work?" That was strange. Grimmjow scowled, glancing up and meeting his eyes for a moment.

"You think I'm wearing this fucking collar for a fashion statement, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow said sullenly. "It drains my power. I don't have much hierro, I can hardly fly and I sure as fuck can't use a cero." For a moment it looked like he would say more, but then he clamped his lips shut and looked down at his feet.

"And he uses it to punish you." Ichigo said quietly. Grimmjow looked up then nodded shortly. "Grimmjow, I'm sorry. I'll take you to Urahara and see if he can remove it."

"He said if I just yanked it off, my neck would go with it." Grimmjow said darkly. Ichigo winced. "And it damned well hurts, if I pull on it."

"I see." Ichigo sighed and got some paper towels, cleaning up the mess on the floor and washing off the pan. Grimmjow retreated to the table as Ichigo began preparing another meal. He still made extra eggs, reasoning that Grimmjow might want to try them. "Here." He put the eggs on a plate for the Espada, seasoning them with a little salt and passing them over. "You can have some, anyway."

"Sure." Grimmjow muttered before trying the eggs. Then he shrugged. "They're okay." He didn't seem very enthusiastic, and Ichigo sighed to himself. Maybe Urahara could find some other way to feed Grimmjow, too. Otherwise, things would be getting rather embarrassing.

_What, you don't want him to suck you off? I can tell you he's VERY good at it –_

_Shut. Up!_ Ichigo snarled at his inner hollow, cheeks going red as the creature replied by sending him a few memories. Memories of Grimmjow on his knees and – _I said stop! Stop that right the fuck now!_ There was an echoing titter, but the hollow stopped sending him those memories, to Ichigo's relief.

As he ate he kept glancing at the man across from him. Grimmjow had a sullen, pissed off look on his face but he was keeping one arm over his abdomen, even when he ate. It made Ichigo ache to see because he was sure that Grimmjow was trying, subconsciously, to protect his cubs. From what? Everything.

It seemed so strange, to see the Espada so focused on something besides himself. Ichigo had thought of him as an egotistical maniac with an unquenchable lust for blood. He'd never imagined Grimmjow could have parental instincts.

_That's because you don't know shit about hollows, King. The type a hollow is has a lot to do with the parenting style. If he were an insect or a reptile, those cubs could just go fuck themselves. But he's a feline and they'll protect their cubs to the death._

"I see." Ichigo said out loud and Grimmjow looked at him warily. "Grimmjow, um… I don't know much about how hollows reproduce. Could you tell me about it?"

"Sure, I guess." Grimmjow said indifferently. "Do you know anything about it?" Ichigo shook his head. "Okay. Until we reach Adjuchas, hollows have no sexual identity. In Adjuchas, we become… I think the word is hermaphrodites." Ichigo goggled a little at that. "We have both sexual parts, and can become pregnant or impregnate someone else. The reason for it is because the soul in charge can still switch at that stage, so the gender can change. When we reach Vasto Lorde, though, we fix into a permanent gender." Grimmjow paused and shrugged. "It's still pretty meaningless though. A female Vasto Lorde can impregnate a partner by shoving her reiatsu and genetic material through –"

"Okay." Ichigo said hurriedly. "I don't think I need to know any more about that." He was sure Grimmjow was going to tell him something really appalling, and the female variants didn't really matter to him at the moment. "How will you deliver the cubs?" He asked, then something occurred to him. "And you always say cubs… you think there will be more than one?" He asked apprehensively. He would end up helping to raise these children, since his hollow had all the parental instincts of a rabid hyena. That was a daunting thought, and more than one made it worse.

"Of course, Kurosaki. I'm a feline, we have litters. I don't know what the hell your hollow is." Grimmjow said and Ichigo frowned. He'd never thought about it before.

_Lizard, of course. And we're even worse for littering than cats. You'll be lucky if he only has three._ Ichigo winced at the cheerful malice in his hollow's tone. He should have guessed, from the tail he got when he fully hollowfied.

"As for delivering the cubs, my sex will change." Grimmjow said and Ichigo went a bit bug eyed at the thought. Change? "Stuff will move around and vanish to make room for the birth canal. We're spiritual so it's hardly a big deal."

"Uh, okay." That was incredibly creepy but there was nothing to do but go with it. Ichigo supposed it made sense, as much as any of this did. "Well, we had better go see Urahara. His store should be open by now. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, sure." Grimmjow seemed resigned to his fate. Ichigo noticed that he kept his arm firmly over his abdomen as he walked, though. It was really sort of sad and a little touching, seeing that kind of mothering instinct from a feral hollow.

He doubted anyone in Soul Society would agree, though, and for the first time in a long time Ichigo was glad that he'd been almost abandoned by the shinigami. He'd started seeing them again a week ago, but he'd thought his reiatsu would never fully recover so he hadn't bothered to make contact. And it seemed that his old friends were avoiding him. Not that it was a huge surprise, Ichigo supposed. Hanging around someone who couldn't see you would have to be a complete drag. And while they could have visited him in their gigai's, what was the point? He was supposed to be going back to being a normal teenager.

Now he knew his powers would come back completely. That was wonderful and Ichigo supposed he would have to tell them eventually, but hopefully long after Grimmjow had produced his cubs. Although, what would they do then? Ichigo bit his lip thinking about it, but then frowned. They would have to see what the cubs were like, first. Would they be more like arrancar or shinigami? Arrancar had very shinigami anatomy, from what Uryu had told him. And what would his hollow count as anyway? Shaking his head, he hoped that Urahara could give him some idea of what Grimmjow was carrying.

To say Urahara was surprised to see an arrancar in his shop would be an understatement, but he handled it well, smiling as he poured them tea. Grimmjow just looked it with disgust, then blinked as he was offered sugar.

"Sugar?" He questioned, looking at the white cubes. "What's that?" He took one and nibbled on it, before choking slightly. "Sweet!" He wrinkled his nose as Ichigo smiled and Urahara laughed.

"Yes, it's sweet, and it makes the tea much better. Try putting it in, you'll see." Grimmjow tilted his head to one side, looking like he'd had a minor revelation, and put the cube in the tea. After a bit of stirring he gave the liquid a cautious slip.

"That is better. Why the hell didn't Aizen give us some sugar? I couldn't figure out why he served us swamp water at our meetings." Grimmjow said and Urahara shrugged.

"Some tea purists feel that sugar ruins the flavor. I'm afraid I rather agree with you, though. Tea is a bit like rhubarb, it needs a bit of sweetness to get the best out of it." He said before giving Ichigo a searching look. "So, Ichigo, what is happening?" Ichigo sighed and gave the shopkeeper an abridged version of events. Urahara seemed very pleased, which was quite annoying. "Arrancar offspring! Absolutely fascinating. I've always wondered if it was possible, but I never expected to have a pregnant arrancar dropped in my lap, so to speak." Ichigo cringed to himself, glancing at Grimmjow. He was expecting some kind of outburst, but the Espada was just looking into his teacup, eyes vacant. "Can you please tell me about how hollows reproduce?" Grimmjow took a sip of his tea and Ichigo winced as he got to hear the explanation again, but this time in far more detail. Urahara wanted to hear all about the female variations, but Ichigo cringed a little inside. Shoving genetic material through their tongues? Really? "So a female Vasto Lorde could impregnate a male Vasto Lorde?"

"I guess. I've never heard of anyone doing it, though. And Vasto Lorde are fucking rare, so it'd normally be a Vasto Lorde and an Adjuchas." Grimmjow took another sip of his tea, then shrugged. "Or an arrancar now." He said, his face empty. Ichigo swallowed, almost wishing for the feral ball of aggressiveness that was Grimmjow. He hadn't liked being used as a punching bag, but it was still better than seeing his enemy so… broken.

_Oh, he's not broken King. I didn't want a broken toy. He's just afraid for his cubs._ His hollow snickered, and Ichigo thought longingly about punching the white bastard in the face. _He'll go back to his usual self after he kits. In fact, he'll probably be worse, hehe._

"What do you mean?" He whispered as Urahara peppered Grimmjow with more questions.

_He's a panther, King, not a lion. Panthers are solitary hunters and the male of the pair is nothing but a danger to the cubs. He'll probably try to drive you away, after they're born._ His hollow supplied helpfully and Ichigo grimaced. He hoped Grimmjow would be able to control his instincts at least a bit. _And why should he? You are his enemy, after all._

"Shut up. Just… shut up." Ichigo said in an undertone before looking up. "Urahara, can you take that collar off him? My hollow did something to fuse it with his reiatsu. It's draining him constantly." Urahara nodded cheerfully, standing up.

"We can see. Follow me, Grimmjow-kun." He said and Grimmjow grunted, pulling himself up and following the shopkeeper. Ichigo watched as Urahara sat him down on a cot, and began to run some undecipherable tests. Then he bit his lip as a small frown began to develop on Urahara's face. "I've never seen anything quite like this." He said softly, gently tugging on the collar. That small gesture made Grimmjow flinch. "It actually seems to be spun from your own power. Do you know how he made it?"

"No idea. He beat the living shit out of me and did it while I was unconscious." Grimmjow admitted, and Kisuke's frown grew.

"I have several ideas for how it could be removed, but they would all need more testing. And, to be honest, I'm loathe to try any of them at the moment. They could easily disrupt your reiatsu, which wouldn't kill you but could easily be fatal to the developing reiatsu inside you." He said and Grimmjow snarled, putting an arm protectively around himself.

"Then it will have to wait." Ichigo said firmly, gently putting a hand on Grimmjow's shoulder. The arrancar twitched at the contact but didn't pull away. He let his hand drop before bringing up the next problem. "Um, Urahara… do you think you can come up with a way to feed him? My hollow was… was…" Ichigo couldn't help the blush as Urahara gave him a very interested look. "Making him…"

"For fuck's sake, Kurosaki, just spit it out or let me tell him." Grimmjow growled and Ichigo found he just couldn't say it. "Fine. He was making me blow him off to feed on this dumbasses' reiatsu."

"Oh." Kisuke blinked, then laughed. The two other occupants of the room were not the least bit amused. "I'm sorry, Grimmjow-kun, that's just such a strange thought! Well… you should be able to transfer your reiatsu to him, Ichigo. However, the skill involved is very similar to kido and I seem to recall that's always been your weakest point. We'll have to work on it." Urahara said, then smiled. "In fact, let's begin right now."

At first, the lesson wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, when they got to the part that involved Grimmjow, things went bad in a hurry.

"FUCK!" The blue haired arrancar writhed away and Ichigo winced, letting his reiatsu dissipate. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

"At least it didn't explode." Urahara said helpfully as Grimmjow froze, looking furious. "I honestly thought it might. Oh, don't be so angry Grimmjow-kun, it would only have been surface burns." That only seemed to piss off the Espada more. "There is one thing I want to try. Hold still." Urahara used his own power then, forming a delicate ball and gently pressing it into the arrancar. Grimmjow went still, his head tilted to one side. Then he frowned, rubbing his chest.

"That helped, but only a little." He said and Urahara nodded, unsurprised.

"I could give you more, but not that often. Ichigo's reiatsu seems to have an amazingly renewable quality, even now." He said and Ichigo frowned, wondering if he'd just been complimented. "I think I could give you a full meal perhaps once a week, and you need to feed every day?"

"When I'm feeding like this, yeah." Grimmjow scowled. "It's like starvation rations, shinigami. I normally eat thousands of souls at once. A good Adjuchas could last me for weeks." Then the Espada shrugged. "This works and it feels okay, but it doesn't last." Urahara nodded, frowning slightly.

"Well, Ichigo will just have to keep trying to master the art of feeding you with his power. Until then, you'll have to do it the natural way." He said with an amused smile. Grimmjow looked away as Ichigo's jaw dropped.

"Wait… you really mean I'll have to…?" He said, appalled. He was still a virgin and Kisuke expected him to let Grimmjow…? The Espada turned his head to glare at him.

"Yeah, I'm fucking thrilled too Kurosaki! Just shut the hell up." He said grumpily and Ichigo winced, looking away. That made him feel like a jackass for protesting. Of course Grimmjow didn't want to suck him off. He could imagine what this was doing to the arrancar's pride. "Now, can you tell how many I'm carrying?" He asked Urahara, and Ichigo thought he was genuinely interested in the answer. Not a surprise, though, Grimmjow seemed heavily focused on his cubs.

It took a while, but Urahara finally established that Grimmjow was carrying three cubs. As far as he could determine, they were all healthy, but it was too early for him to tell much about them. He couldn't determine the genders or anything about their natures, to Ichigo's disappointment. Grimmjow didn't seem surprised, but then, he'd have had a better idea of how far along he was.

"I think it's time for lunch! I know its summer vacation, Ichigo, but will your family be expecting you home?" Ichigo shook his head. Karin and Yuzu were off playing with their friends and his dad was at the clinic. No one would miss him a bit. "Then please stay. There are a few more tests I would like to run on Grimmjow before you leave." The Espada didn't look very happy at that, but he didn't say anything as Urahara prepared a meal. Ichigo watched him from the corner of his eye and frowned as Grimmjow pulled the shoulder of his sweater down a bit so he could lick himself. That was odd. But his concern vanished as the food arrived. It was good, and he was pretty hungry. It had been a long time since breakfast. Grimmjow only picked at his food and Ichigo wondered if the arrancar even considered it edible.

The second set of tests was much quicker than the first, but Urahara was frowning more often. He had Grimmjow disrobe, and Ichigo winced to himself as he carefully probed the old marks on the arrancar's body.

"I'm going to give you some healing." Urahara said quietly and Grimmjow just nodded. Healing kido's filled his hands, gently caressing the abused flesh. Some of the scars visibly shrank, and some discolorations Ichigo had hardly noticed vanished or lessened. Urahara examined his work for a moment and nodded. "I think that will do. You can get dressed. Ichigo, can we speak privately for a moment?" Ichigo nodded as Grimmjow pulled his clothes back on.

"What's wrong?" Ichigo said softly as soon as they were out of the room. Urahara gave him a look like he was an idiot.

"Aside from the fact that he's been tortured?" Ichigo bit his lip and Urahara sighed. "There's no other way to describe it, Ichigo. Those wounds are all quite fresh, despite the superficial healed appearance." Ichigo blinked at that, surprised. He'd thought the wounds were all months old. "I expect they will eventually heal without scarring. For now, though, try to keep him from overexerting himself. Several of those wounds could reopen if he does."

"I…" Ichigo swallowed, then squared his shoulders. "I'll do my best. But this is Grimmjow we're talking about." He remembered the first time they'd met, and tried to imagine telling the Espada to calm down and not take it so rough. Yeah, that would have gone over well. Of course, right now things were different, but that was not a good thing.

"Remind him that he could endanger the cubs if he gets too energetic." Urahara advised him and Ichigo nodded. That would probably work without bruising the Espada's pride further. "Now, what are you going to tell your family?"

"Um…" Ichigo dearly wished he could lie. But… "The truth I guess. If the babies are more shinigami than anything, we'll have to get them gigai's and try to raise them here. Can you put a baby in a gigai?" He asked, a little apprehensively. But Kisuke nodded.

"It's been done before. You just have to change the gigai often, to match the child's rate of growth. Well, good luck Ichigo!" He smiled, glancing back at the room they had left Grimmjow in. "I think you're going to need it." Ichigo grimaced at that, shaking his head.

He honestly couldn't agree more.


	3. Feeding Time

Grimmjow glanced warily around the room before pulling his sweater out, trying to lick the wounds around his hollow hole.

Those injuries pained him the most, and Kurosaki's damned hollow had known they would. It was a sensitive spot on any hollow, one of the best places to hit if you wanted to kill them. It could also be a pleasure point, too, but few hollows were ever comfortable enough with a mate to allow it. Grimmjow never had, although he'd touched it himself a time or two.

Not now though. Now, the inside was scraped raw. He didn't think Kurosaki had noticed, although Urahara had. A bit of his healing had been directed to that spot, which helped. But mostly time and rest would have to cure it. He couldn't reach his tongue very far in there.

He let his shirt fall back into place as the front door opened with a babbling of young voices. Those voices fell silent as they both realized there was an intruder in their den, curled up on the edge of the couch. Grimmjow just looked at them warily. He'd vaguely known Kurosaki had a family, it was the sort of thing humans did, but he didn't know a thing about them. The big guy in the back had to be the teen's sire. The two girls were too young to be his dam, so they had to be siblings. Where was his dam, though? Grimmjow decided not to ask. In Hueco Mundo, the answer would generally be 'eaten'. Besides, it wasn't like he cared.

"Hey, who are you?" The one with the dark hair asked, scowling at him. "One of Ichi-nii's friends?" Grimmjow shrugged, glancing up the stairs and hoping Kurosaki would get down soon. He didn't want to deal with this.

"Something like that." While it might be fun to see the looks on their faces if he told them the truth, he was sure as hell not going to play Q and A with them. That was Kurosaki's fun. Then the orange haired girl stepped forward with a friendly smile.

"Hi, I'm Yuzu! Who are you?" She offered him a hand and Grimmjow blinked before gingerly taking it. He'd never seen this greeting before.

"I'm Grimmjow." He said and she looked a little puzzled at his name. It probably sounded weird to her. Then he looked up with relief as Kurosaki came down the stairs.

"Hi everyone! Oh, I, um, I see you've met my friend." He said with cheerfulness that was just a bit forced. Grimmjow curled back up, then scowled as he saw Kurosaki's sire was giving him a hard look. He hadn't said a thing since he'd entered the room, but he clearly knew something was up.

"Ichigo, why does he feel like a hollow?" He asked and Grimmjow blinked. He hadn't realized this guy was anything more than human. That bothered him, but only briefly. The damn collar was affecting his ability to sense things too.

"Because I'm Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, Sexta Espada." Grimmjow said in a borderline hostile tone. "Or rather, ex-Espada, since Aizen's gone." Not dead, but gone, and that was good enough for him. He'd always hated the fucker and he'd heard what the bastard had done to Harribel. She'd survived, but only just barely. The girls were both a bit speechless as Ichigo's sire gave the kid a hard stare. Ichigo was running a hand through his hair awkwardly.

"Dad… can you all sit down? This is kind of hard." Once everyone was seated and had drinks, Ichigo began telling them what had happened, starting with an explanation of how male hollows could get pregnant and following with what his hollow had done. Grimmjow scowled. It was too edited, the teen was making it sound like his hollow and Grimmjow had decided to frolic. Yeah, right.

"Don't leave out the fact that I didn't get a choice in this, Kurosaki." He snarled and all heads turned towards him as the teen blushed.

"You didn't want to be a mother?" Yuzu said questioningly and Grimmjow scowled.

"No, I didn't want to have sex." He said shortly and her face went pale as she got it. The others were getting it too, from the looks on their faces.

"Ichigo…!" That growl was genuinely impressive and Kurosaki winced, leaning away from his sire.

"It wasn't my fault! My hollow just… dad, I'm sorry, I'm trying to do the right thing." He said, sounding somewhere between pleading and harassed. Grimmjow decided it was time to speak up. Not that he gave a damn if Kurosaki's sire used him as a tent peg, but he did kind of need to feed every damned night.

"He didn't know what the fucking hollow was doing. That's why he brought me here, because he couldn't keep hiding it much longer." He said and Kurosaki shot him a grateful but surprised look. Grimmjow just shrugged. The dark haired girl was frowning at him.

"So are these actually your kids, Ichi-nii?" She asked and Ichigo sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm Karin, by the way." That commented was directed to him and Grimmjow nodded.

"I'm Isshin. Yes, Ichigo, am I about to become a grandfather?" Ichigo's sire asked his son, and Ichigo nodded.

"Sort of. I mean, they're going to be spiritual, and we're not sure how they'll turn out yet. But my hollow is part of my soul and he was using my reiatsu and genetic material so yes, they are my children." He admitted, looking like he'd rather deny it. "Urahara says that if they turn out to be mostly shinigami, we can put them in gigai and raise them here." Kurosaki said, and that seemed to cheer everyone up considerably. Isshin started babbling about baby names and Grimmjow sighed to himself, just looking away. He hadn't given any thought at all to naming the damned things. He'd been too heavily concentrated on just trying to keep them alive. Then he felt someone beside him and Grimmjow looked up to see Yuzu, looking at him curiously.

"Are you very far along? Can we see them yet?" She asked shyly and he blinked, glancing down at his abdomen. He'd had his arm folded over it as usual.

"I'm not far along, but sure I guess." Grimmjow said, removing his arm and pulling down his pants slightly to let her have a look. It actually didn't bother him much, and it only took a moment for him to figure out why. Her scent was immature and screamed cub to him, which meant she was certainly no threat and actually sort of welcome at the moment. His condition had him primed to take care of cubs. There was already an obvious bump, not surprising since he was carrying three. They'd start to show early. Yuzu hovered her hand over it, glancing at him questioningly, and he nodded. Her hand was surprisingly soft on his skin as she stroked that budding little life. Grimmjow tilted his head to one side and finally decided he liked her. She finally pulled her hand away with a smile.

"Thank you." She said as he pulled the waistband of his sweatpants back up.

"It's nothing." He said, glancing towards the table. Not to his surprise, Ichigo and Isshin were both looking at him wide eyed. Karin seemed less surprised, but she didn't seem inclined to follow her sister's lead. "What? You thought I was going to eat her?" He jibed and Ichigo jumped a little as Yuzu blushed.

"No, I've just never seen you be nice to anyone!" Ichigo said, slightly amazed. Grimmjow rolled his eyes but had to admit to himself that the teen had a point. Nice was not in his job description. Isshin nodded.

"And I've never seen a hollow behave like that. Is it because you're pregnant?" He asked and Grimmjow grimaced before nodding. Before he'd gotten like this, Yuzu would have been beneath his notice, not even worthy of being a light snack. "You will be a wonderful mother!" The old man beamed. That made the arrancar choke.

"Dam! For fucks sake." He muttered. He vastly preferred the more neutral words dam and sire to mother and father. They were more accurate with hollows, anyway. "What's for supper?" He asked, not because he cared but just to get the attention away from him.

"It's miso soup! Have you ever had miso soup?" Yuzu asked and Grimmjow shook his head. "I'll make you some." She went to the kitchen, getting the dashi broth out of the fridge and putting it on the stove, along with chopped onions, mushrooms and a bit of seafood. Then she added the miso and soon the soup was perking away. It didn't really take long before everyone had their soup, and Grimmjow tried it more out of duty than anything. It tasted good, and he liked the seafood, but that was about all he could say for it. He couldn't live on it, that was for damned sure. Yuzu was looking at him hopefully though.

"It tastes good." He said, which was true enough. She beamed at the compliment. Ichigo was still giving him strange looks, sort of like he couldn't believe the Espada was actually being civil to his sister. It made him want to punch the shinigami's lights out.

They watched some TV, which left the arrancar a bit mystified. It seemed interesting; he just didn't fully understand what was going on. Why were these people so obsessed with getting this woman to wear better clothes? What was wrong with the old ones? Clothes were something you wore so no one could see the injuries, as far as he was concerned. And back when he'd had functioning Hierro, clothes had been something you wore to avoid getting yelled at. They sure as hell weren't a fashion statement.

Grimmjow paused as he realized he wasn't even sure what a fashion statement was. He knew that phrase and sort of knew what it meant, but there were no fashion trends in Hueco Mundo. Were clothes a fashion statement? And what was this woman's first statement saying? The show started to make a bit more sense as he figured that out. It actually wasn't bad, and he could see the woman looked better in her second set of outfits.

After that they started chatting about things Grimmjow didn't understand, so he mentioned being tired and beat a retreat to the bedroom. Curling up under the comforter, he dozed off for a bit before being awoken by the aching pain of his body.

"Damn it." He mumbled, hissing softly as he realized he needed to feed. Pretty damn badly, in fact. Pulling himself reluctantly out of the blankets, he forced himself to wait. Kurosaki hadn't explained how he was feeding his arrancar to the family, and Grimmjow didn't want to bring it up. It was humiliating enough already. The teen finally walked into his bedroom, rubbing the back of his head. He stopped dead as he saw the Espada glaring at him.

"Oh. You need to feed?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded shortly. "Grimmjow… I'm sorry." That made him growl faintly in exasperation.

"You don't have to keep telling me that, Kurosaki. I get it. Now can I feed already? I'm fucking starving." Ichigo swallowed but nodded, taking off his clothes. Grimmjow just waited patiently, noticing that he was physically identical to his hollow except for the color difference. That didn't make him feel any better about what he needed to do, but it still had to be done. Kurosaki finally sat down on the edge of his bed, looking at the Espada apprehensively. Then he winced as Grimmjow gripped his thighs.

"Careful!" He said and Grimmjow paused, a bit confused. Then he realized. Kurosaki didn't have any Hierro, which made a huge difference for the pressure he could use. He grinned to himself. The teen had no idea how close he'd come to a painful vice on his cock. It was a good thing he'd gotten that warning, though, and Grimmjow loosened his grip before getting to work.

Kurosaki tasted a bit different from his hollow. His skin was warmer, and the natural musk was stronger. Grimmjow tasted it almost curiously, although his anger and hate were still there, blazing in the back of his mind. He kept his mouth and hands gentle, slowly stroking Kurosaki from end to tip with his tongue as he fondled the teen's sac. Then he slowly increased the pressure until Ichigo was keening softly, his hands falling onto Grimmjow's shoulders and digging into his unprotected skin.

Grimmjow hadn't expected blowing Kurosaki off to be much different from blowing his hollow off, but he found there was one important difference. He didn't feel as threatened. When the hollow gripped his shoulders or touched his hair, Grimmjow had always been afraid that he was about to slit his throat or break his neck. The hollow had made it clear that he was a pet, a toy, and Grimmjow had no doubts about what the creature would do when his toy no longer amused him. And while part of him might have almost welcomed an ending, the rest of him had felt nothing but revulsion for the thought. He hadn't gotten this far by giving up.

So blowing off Kurosaki was a bit different. He didn't feel any threat as those blunt nails dug into his skin, and that breathy voice urged him onwards. He obeyed, deep throating the boy almost without effort. The hollow had trained him, painfully, to do this. Kurosaki was trying to thrust into his throat and Grimmjow wanted to hold him back, but didn't quite dare. The hollow was watching.

So he let Kurosaki fuck his face, and wondered where the hell his life had gone wrong to end up like this. Pregnant and giving head to his worst enemy. Well, second worst, that fucking hollow had pride of place. But he lived in Kurosaki's head so wasn't it all the same anyway? There was a final snap of Kurosaki's hips and he finally got his meal, swallowing every drop. The rush of reiatsu filled him with a familiar combination of warmth and sickness. Pulling away, he breathed heavily and licked his lips, glancing up at Kurosaki. The teen was looking at him with wide brown eyes.

"Wow. Grimmjow, that was amazing." He sounded dazed and Grimmjow blinked. He'd have called it more nauseating, although truth be told, it could have been worse. "I've never felt anything like that before."

"Well, you said you were a virgin." He observed, making Kurosaki blush. "So unless you've been sucking yourself off, I shouldn't think so." He said with a grin that only got wider as the teen's blush deepened. Teasing the kid was kinda fun.

Although he still hated him. That was not going to change easily.

* * *

Ichigo woke the next day feeling incredibly good.

It only took a moment for him to realize why, and he blushed a little as he looked down at the pile of blankets on the floor of his room. Grimmjow wasn't huddled in them quite so much today. His head was poking out, and Ichigo could see powder blue hair and a single perfect ear.

_Ichigo?_ That voice wasn't his hollow and Ichigo breathed out a sigh of pure relief.

"Zangetsu! We have a bit of a problem." He quickly outlined what was going on. "Can you please keep my hollow from touching him? He's been through enough." Ichigo knew that whatever he imagined the hollow doing to Grimmjow, it was probably tamer than the reality. All those wounds, and they had all been fresh… then Zangetsu said something that shocked him.

_Are you certain you want to commit to this, Ichigo? If Soul Society finds out about this… _Zangetsu did not sound enthusiastic at all. Ichigo blinked, his jaw dropping a bit.

"What choice do I have? The babies are coming." He said, shocked that the zanpakuto would even consider that he might abandon Grimmjow and the cubs.

_If we could convince your hollow to remove that collar, he could go back to Hueco Mundo and raise them there. In fact, he would likely prefer it._ Zangetsu said and Ichigo scowled. He didn't like that idea one little bit.

"First off, that depends on making my hollow cooperate. Which isn't likely, is it?" He asked and they both heard an eerie titter from said hollow. "And Urahara thinks the children might come out mostly shinigami, sort of like born Visored. How could Grimmjow raise them alone?"

_Oh, he could definitely do that, King. He'd make himself a den and leave the children there while he hunts, then feed them when he comes home._ His hollow supplied helpfully. _Of course, a more powerful hollow wouldn't hesitate to raid his den and kill and eat the cubs. But there aren't many hollows more powerful than him._ Ichigo grit his teeth, wishing his hollow would shut up.

"No. These are my children too, and I want them to know their aunts and granddad. I also don't want them to grow up wild in Hueco Mundo." He said firmly. "If they're going to be shinigami hybrids, that's no place for them anyway."

_But is Soul Society?_ Zangetsu asked and Ichigo sighed.

"I'm not planning to take them there, old man. I'm going to raise them in the Living World and hopefully no one will notice." Ichigo pulled himself out of bed. "No one's come by the visit me, it's not likely they'll start anytime soon."

_Ya'll better learn to control your spiritual pressure a bit better then, King. They'll be noticing you before too long. _Ichigo scowled but privately admitted that his hollow had a point. He'd need to get some serious lessons in kido from Urahara. Maybe he could even learn to feed Grimmjow without the sex. _You don't want sex? Pssh, you pussy._

"Shut the hell up." He carefully stepped over the sleeping Espada, not noticing that blue eyes were open just a hair. Once Ichigo was safely out of the room, Grimmjow allowed himself to doze off again. But it was a very light, wary doze, suitable for the endless night of Hueco Mundo. "Do you think it's likely anyone will sense Grimmjow?" He asked his hollow and zanpakuto. It was the hollow who responded.

_Hah! You can hardly sense him across the room. Just get a hat for that ridiculous hair and he'll be fine._ Ichigo blinked at that, wondering if his dad still had that horrible hat he'd always worn golfing. If he did, it would be perfect. Well… sort of perfect. It would hide Grimmjow's hair, although it could probably make even the handsome Espada ugly. _Really? I must see this hat._

"Yeah, it's frightening." Ichigo washed and showered quickly, then dried himself off. He was still feeling amazingly good. He was willing to admit, at least to himself, that his hollow was right. Grimmjow was very skilled. He didn't have much to compare it to, of course, but he couldn't imagine that oral sex could get much better than that. He shivered a bit at the thought, but then bit his lip as he remembered the fire in those bright blue eyes. It had been carefully suppressed rage, not lust, and that cooled his desire.

_What, you don't enjoy knowing he hates you even while he's sucking your cock? I loved that. _The hollow tittered and Ichigo's hands curled into fists. He ignored the taunt, though, going downstairs for breakfast.

"Where's Grimmjow? Doesn't he want any breakfast?" Yuzu said and Ichigo glanced at the stairs. "I made some egg toast just for him!" She sounded disappointed and Ichigo hesitated a moment.

"He was sleeping when I left the room. I'll go see if he wants any." He said and Yuzu perked up, smiling. Ichigo was completely baffled by the seeming affection between his sister and Grimmjow. Shaking his head, he went upstairs to rouse the Espada. He was surprised to see Grimmjow already up and poking his computer when he stepped into his room. "Hey! Don't mess with that." He snapped then winced as Grimmjow took a step back, that dark spark he was beginning to identify as hatred flaring in his eyes. "It has my homework on it." He explained, trying to mollify the Espada. "Yuzu made you some egg toast, she'd really like you to try it." Something flickered through the arrancar's eyes, but Ichigo just couldn't read it quickly enough. But at least the hate was gone.

"Sure, why not." Grimmjow shrugged then surprised him by smiling a little. "Wouldn't want to disappoint the little woman." Ichigo frowned, not sure he liked that term for Yuzu. But Grimmjow didn't seem to mean anything by it, so he let it pass.

"Grimmjow-kun!" As soon as they came downstairs, Yuzu greeted them with a bright smile. "I made you a special plate!" She offered him the food with a smile and he took it with a surprisingly genuine smile. Ichigo noticed, with a tiny bit of jealousy, that Yuzu had put whipped cream and fresh strawberries on his egg toast. The rest of them had to fetch their own.

"Thank you." Grimmjow said graciously and sat at the table with them to eat. Karin and Isshin were already there, and Ichigo took a seat on the couch. There just wasn't enough room at the tiny table for five people. "I like the toast, it goes well with the cream and strawberries." He said and Yuzu dimpled in pleasure.

"Grimmjow-kun, I wanted to ask you something." Isshin said cheerfully and Ichigo glanced up from his food, frowning. "If any of the babies are a girl, can we name them after their grandmother? My darling wife, her name was Masaki." He was going a bit teary eyed and Grimmjow blinked at him.

"Masaki." The Espada said, testing the name. "Sure. I like it – hck!" The arrancar looked shocked as he was suddenly hugged, tears running down Isshin's face.

"You are a wonderful step-son! MASAKI!" His father ran to the poster of Masaki as Ichigo sighed in pure exasperation. Would this ever end? "YOU WILL HAVE A NAMESAKE! I ONLY WISH YOU COULD SEE YOUR GRANDCHILDREN!" Then he sobbed in joy, clutching the poster.

"What did he just…? Step-son…?" Grimmjow questioned as Ichigo tried to think of a way to explain it all, then gave up. "Oi, shinigami, what the hell?"

"Just ignore him, he's… excitable." He said wearily. Grimmjow just looked at his dad and shook his head before going back to his food. "We're going to the park today. Did you want to come?"

"Sure, why not." Grimmjow said indifferently, but with a spark of interest in his eyes. Ichigo smiled to himself. Getting out of the house might really be good for the Espada.

If nothing else, he could use the fresh air.


	4. A Bit of Hope

Grimmjow glanced around the park, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. It was almost like he'd been here before. Not just the Living World, but this place specifically. And that was odd because he was pretty sure he would have remembered this place.

The park was beautiful. It was a well-tended city park, filled with blooming flowers in artfully arranged beds. A little stream ran through the park, gurgling happily as it flowed over the stones. Grimmjow paused to admire a flower bed, and wondered why this all seemed so familiar. He'd never been here before, he was sure of it. Had his soul come from Karakura town? Maybe.

Grimmjow couldn't remember much of his past as a human. He knew he'd had a past, of course. The dominant soul in the collective of souls that made up his body, his past made up part of his personality. But he couldn't remember it and by and large, he was glad. He had a feeling there was soul searing pain in that past.

Leaving that alone for the moment, Grimmjow followed the Kurosaki family. Ichigo was looking back at him, slightly concerned, and he forced a smile onto his face. He was enjoying the park. He just didn't like the feeling that he'd been here before.

Isshin was yelling something and clapping his hands. Grimmjow let his attention wander. The guy was a nutcase and weirder than fuck, sometimes. Other times he could be completely calm and collected. Grimmjow found it a little creepy. He didn't like people who changed like that, it reminded him of… of…

Hissing a snarl, Grimmjow gripped his head for a moment. Being in the Living World was bringing things back, he could tell. He didn't want to remember, he didn't want to remember the person in his other life who could change from happy to furious in the blink of an eye. Forcing back the memories he looked up just as Yuzu tripped and fell.

"Dad! Look what you did!" Ichigo yelled at his sire as Yuzu winced, pulling herself up. Apparently her dad's 'epic slide technique' had gotten too close and knocked her feet out from under her. Karin was busy kicking Isshin in the face, so Grimmjow sighed to himself and went to Yuzu.

"You okay little woman?" He asked and she nodded, but he frowned as he saw the blood on the path. It wasn't much, but in Hueco Mundo you didn't leave a blood trail if you could help it. "Hey, I'll fix that." He knelt down in front of her, flicking her gown out of the way. She had a scraped knee. He gripped her leg and quickly licked the wound. Yuzu gasped but he ignored it, cleaning the blood away.

"Grimmjow, what the hell? That's disgusting!" Ichigo exclaimed and Grimmjow was vaguely aware that he had the attention of the entire family now, but he didn't care. He was nearly done. "Stop that!" Ichigo grabbed his shoulder, yanking him away just as he finished. "That's… uh…" Ichigo stared at Yuzu's knee as she reached down to rub it. There was no hint of a wound. "Wait, did you just heal her?"

"Yeah, it's my saliva. I can heal some shit." Grimmjow said, wiping off his mouth. He didn't really like the taste of human blood, for some reason.

"It felt warm and tingly. Thank you Grimmjow-kun!" Yuzu hugged him, to the arrancar's surprise. He gently patted her back as Ichigo stared at him.

"Like Nel's vomit… Grimmjow, why didn't you tell me you could do that?" He asked and Grimmjow huffed a laugh.

"Why the hell would I have? We were trying to kill each other, remember? And if you think a few licks woulda fixed that hole Ulquiorra punched in you, you should go see if all those head injuries you've taken have got to your brain." Grimmjow frowned, pulling his ugly hat down a bit more firmly. "It's not as strong as Nel's puke anyway. Just heals surface injuries, I mostly used it to avoid leaving a blood trail." Ichigo swallowed, looking sick, and Grimmjow wondered why. "Are we gonna keep going? I kinda like this place."

"Oh sure." Ichigo was a bit subdued after that, but everyone else was quite cheerful. Isshin managed to not hurt anyone, although he did get a rather energetic kick from Karin after he tried to get Grimmjow to wear a flower. The Espada was quite relieved. Flowers were definitely not his thing, not wearing them anyway. Although… he seemed to vaguely recall putting a flower in someone else's hair, a long time ago. Another thing he did not want to remember.

They stopped for lunch under the branches of an immense sakura tree. Ichigo was carrying the picnic basket and Grimmjow helped him spread out the blanket for them to sit on. He ate his bento box more to avoid disappointing Yuzu than anything, and flatly refused to try the fizzy drinks the others had. He'd had one before, and hated the way the bubbles tickled his nose.

As he looked over the park, Grimmjow felt a sudden stab of homesickness. Not for this place, not for the Living World, but for Hueco Mundo. It was a cold, alien place full of cold, bitter souls but it was his home. He knew the dangers there, knew what to do to stay alive and feed. The Living World was familiar, but it was a familiarity that whispered of pain and horror. He knew, if he dug deep enough, that he'd remember why he'd become a hollow in the first place. And he couldn't allow that to happen. It had driven him insane once, it might take him over the edge again.

"Hey Grimmjow, there were a lot of arrancar living in Los Noches, right?" Karin said, dragging his attention back to the present. "What did you guys do for fun?" Grimmjow noticed that Ichigo was looking at him curiously too and hesitated a moment as he thought about it.

"Well, it depends on why you're talking about. That fruit loop Szayel liked to take people apart to see what made 'em tick." He said honestly and the girls went a bit pale as Ichigo grimaced. Isshin just sipped his drink, listening carefully. "I stayed away from his place, he always wanted an Espada to study… Um… Harribel hung out with her fraccion, Starrk slept all the damned time, Nnoitra… I'm gonna skip that…" They really didn't need to hear the details of what Nnoitra liked to do with his free time. "Barragan liked to play chess with Tosen. And we all practiced a lot. I was practicing all the time." He shrugged and thought for a moment. "I think the numeros had a soccer tournament or something going on. And there was a poker club." He'd never been interested in any of that, though. He'd been focused on getting stronger so he could kick Ichigo's ass. Not that it had ever worked.

"Do you play poker?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow shook his head.

"I don't gamble." He said definitively. Another vague memory, something about dice, rose in the back of his mind but he firmly suppressed it. "When I was bored, I went on a hunt." Chasing down an unlucky hollow to eat. That had been his main form of entertainment, when he needed any, which mostly he didn't. Training wasn't as good as a real brawl but it was close.

"Sounds kind of boring." Karin said and Grimmjow scowled. "Don't you have any hobbies?"

"Killing things isn't a hobby?" Grimmjow said grumpily, making everyone except Isshin wince. The elder Kurosaki just shook his head, unsurprised. "Uh…" Grimacing, Grimmjow tried to remember. What had been his hobbies, way back when he'd been alive? "I did flower arrangement." He finally said then bristled as Karin laughed. Yuzu was smiling and Ichigo was looking at him in disbelief. "Hey, it was manly when I was alive!"

"That's awesome Grimmjow." Ichigo was smiling now. "You can make us some bouquets when we get home." Grimmjow growled and gave him the finger. "Hey, don't corrupt my sisters!"

"If they don't know that gesture, they've been hiding under a fucking rock, Kurosaki. And don't expect me to clean up my language, that ain't happening." He said gruffly and Ichigo sighed, and then shrugged. Karin just snickered.

"He's right, Ichi-nii. Our last class photo three guys got in trouble for giving the camera the finger. Been there, done that." She assured him as Grimmjow let his attention wander. There were ducks in the pond and his fingers itched at the sight of them. Those were some good eating. Why did he care about that, though?

Grimmjow frowned, thinking hard, then felt a moment of shock as he realized what was going through the back of his mind. A long time ago, he'd been responsible for someone else, and it had been his job to bring home food. Being in the Living World was bringing that back, and having cubs in his belly wasn't helping. Even his hollow instincts were telling him to be responsible and look out for the people around him, his fraccion, who could support him when he kitted. And he grudgingly admitted it was a good idea. Hollow cubs could walk days after birth, and stay safely ensconced in a den while the parent went out to hunt. But what would his cubs be like now? What were shinigami babies like? He didn't have a damned clue.

"Want me to catch a duck for supper?" He finally offered. He knew it would be no trouble. The ducks were fat and lazy here.

"Oh no Grimmjow-kun!" Yuzu sounded horrified and he blinked at her. "They're part of the park! You can't eat them!"

"And it would be a lot of trouble to pluck and clean them." Ichigo added a bit more practically. Grimmjow grinned at that objection.

"I could take care of that shit in no time flat. I was the master of… oh. Ouch." He muttered, putting a hand against his forehead as a dull ache started. "What was I saying?" He couldn't remember anymore. It was just gone, fallen out his ears.

"I think I should take you back to Urahara soon." Ichigo sounded concerned and Grimmjow frowned. "Besides, I need to get more lessons from him." That immediately put the Espada on guard.

"I'm not gonna be your guinea pig, Kurosaki. Blow someone else up." He said firmly and everyone laughed as Ichigo blushed.

"I'm not that bad!" He said defensively, but clearly his family knew better. "Well, okay, I'm pretty bad." He admitted as Grimmjow grinned. "Do you know any kido?" He asked and the Espada snorted.

"Kido? That's a shinigami thing. And what would I need kido for when I've got a cero?" He twitched his shoulders, looking down at his hands. "Not that I've got a cero right now." He doubted he could use kido, though, not with that damned collar draining him. Still. "Maybe I can try to learn, if your hollow will let me." It was an interesting concept. As far as he knew, Aizen and his flunkies had never tried to teach the arrancar real shinigami powers. They'd just learned to refine their natural hollow abilities and add a few hybrid ones. But everything they had came naturally, not like kido. Ichigo's eyes went vague for a moment as he communed with his inner passengers.

"He says he'll give you a bit of power if you want to try." He said. That made Grimmjow start looking for a catch. That hollow only did things for himself. But he couldn't find it, so he nodded shortly. Then Yuzu and Karin started packing up, and he helped, folding up the blanket.

He was kind of looking forward to seeing Urahara now. At least it would be something to do.

* * *

"Hey, Grimmjow! Knock it off!" Ichigo protested as Grimmjow grinned. "Seriously, get this off me or I'll break it!"

"Okay, okay. Don't get your shorts in a knot." He said easily before he broke the binding kido he'd placed on the teen. "You did say I could test it out on you, shinigami." Ichigo scowled and shifted his shoulders, shaking out his arms. Grimmjow couldn't know, but that was the exact same kido Rukia had used on him the day they'd met. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

That thought made him smile, and Ichigo went back to his own practice as Grimmjow tried out another low level kido. Urahara had given Grimmjow a 'meal' before he started, so the Espada was in no danger of using up too much power. To everyone's surprise, the arrancar took to kido readily. It made Ichigo wonder why Aizen had never tutored his Espada in it. He'd given them shinigami powers, but it seemed like he hadn't exploited it to the fullest.

Ichigo's lessons weren't going as well. His control was still as abysmal as always, and Urahara was muttering about coming up with something to mask his reiatsu. Ichigo was hopeful that he could. He didn't want Grimmjow's life and the welfare of their children to depend on his own control.

Ichigo sighed to himself as he thought about Soul Society. Zangetsu was right about how dangerous this could be, and Kisuke had taken him aside to quietly point out some of the complications. Grimmjow and the other surviving Espada and arrancar were already under a sentence of death, as far as Soul Society was concerned. They might let him live long enough to have the cubs, but if they did it would be so Mayuri could study them. They would probably be better off dead. And for harboring an Espada and having sexual relations with him, Ichigo could also be executed. It was no wonder Zangetsu wasn't happy about what they were doing. His zanpakuto cared about him, not the arrancar that had been shoved into his life.

There was also another complication, although it was one that angered Ichigo almost to the point of rage. Ichigo had never really been aware of how Soul Society viewed same sex liaisons before. It had just never come up. He'd been slightly attracted to Renji, but he could tell the other man was very interested in Rukia, so he'd never let on. Which was just as well, because it appeared that such things were looked down on in Soul Society. Urahara hadn't gone into details, but it sounded like the prejudice against it was bad, very bad. If Grimmjow were female, he'd have a much better chance of convincing people to look the other way. As it was, well, they were going to horrify Soul Society on so many levels it wasn't even funny.

Ichigo frowned slightly as a thought occurred to him. Did his hollow share his sexual preferences? Was that why he'd taken Grimmjow as a pet, rather than find a female arrancar?

_Well, of course. I'm a part of your soul, why would I be different from you in that? If he hadn't appealed to me, I'd have killed the kitty and kept looking for something good._ His hollow sniggered and Ichigo growled softly at it.

"Hey shinigami! Way of Destruction: Thrust!" Ichigo's eyes went wide as he was suddenly pushed, right in the middle of his chest. He landed on his butt and his hollow snarled, but he felt Zangetsu move to block the retaliation that would have followed. Grimmjow was grinning, a familiar feral grin that made Ichigo smile. It was good to see Grimmjow back to his usual, confident self.

_I'll fix that._ His hollow snarled darkly and Ichigo snarled back.

"Shut up!" Then he pulled himself to his feet, dusting himself off. "You're really getting the hang of that." He said, feeling just a touch jealous. It was strange that Grimmjow seemed to be learning kido much easier than he could. The Espada shrugged.

"It's not that different from learning to control bala and cero. You never knew 'cause there was no reason to show you, but I always had really fine control over my cero." Grimmjow lifted a finger and created a tiny red globe. Ichigo blinked at the miniature cero. "I used it to write my name in the table at those stupid fucking meetings Aizen had us attend."

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo couldn't help but laugh, because he could absolutely see the Espada doing that. "I'm surprised Aizen didn't kill you." That made the arrancar grimace, and Ichigo wished he hadn't brought it up as pain flashed over his face.

"Oh, he tried." Grimmjow muttered, then shrugged. "Eh, blood under the bridge. I'm getting tired though, need to feed." Ichigo swallowed as that blue gaze seemed to bore into him. It made him feel tingly but also… ashamed. He wanted the Espada, wanted him desperately, but not at the cost of Grimmjow's pride. Yet, what else could they do?

"I have a spare room you can use." Kisuke said helpfully and Ichigo shot him a deeply suspicious look. "There are no cameras, I swear!"

"Like I care. I think Aizen was recording us everywhere. I KNOW he had recorders in the showers." Grimmjow commented and Ichigo blinked. "That freak Gin proved that on his stupid encyclopedia segment, when Harribel switched the tapes. I never wanted to see that much of him." Ichigo sighed as he remembered the encyclopedia. That had been weird. Funny, but weird.

"Okay then." Ichigo said, and blushed as Urahara showed them to a room. He took a breath and began to undo his pants, still blushing.

"Hey." Grimmjow's voice was a bit unsteady, and Ichigo looked at him, surprised. There was a wary look on his face, and a deep darkness in his eyes. "Um… do you mind if I hold you back a bit? I mean, I don't like to choke." He asked and Ichigo blushed a bit more darkly, biting his lip. He hadn't thought about how uncomfortable it might be for Grimmjow, when he moved his hips. But why was the arrancar even asking? He wouldn't have cared if –

_No. He doesn't get to take control, in any way!_ Ichigo sighed at his hollow. Well, that explained why Grimmjow was asking.

"Zangetsu, keep him under control." He said, receiving a silent assent from his zanpakuto. "Sure, I don't mind. I'm sorry, I've never done this before." Ichigo blushed lightly as he said that. It wasn't true anymore. Sure enough, Grimmjow huffed a laugh.

"You have now, shinigami. Now, just sit would ya?" Ichigo nodded and sat, letting his pants fall to his ankles. There was no reason to fully disrobe, they wouldn't be doing anything more. Although he wistfully wished for that, sometimes. But he simply couldn't ask Grimmjow for more.

_I could make him do that for you, King._ His hollow chimed in and Ichigo grit his teeth, sending the creature a giant mental FUCK YOU. The thought of what his hollow had done to the proud Espada made him want to gag. But Grimmjow's tongue was on him then, and his hollow quickly became the last thing on his mind.

The Espada took things a bit more slowly this time, to Ichigo's surprise. He started with the inside of his thighs, stroking the sensitive skin with his warm, flexible tongue. Ichigo shivered slightly, then gasped as Grimmjow spread his legs a bit more, ducking his face down and teasing his sac with long, slow licks. The Espada paused to suck on him there and Ichigo trembled with desire, his breath coming faster. That felt absolutely _incredible, _but he wanted more.

Then Grimmjow moved on to his cock, resting a hand on his base before licking him like a lollipop. Ichigo bit his hand to stifle a moan as the arrancar worked him over, teasing the hot, firm flesh with slow, gentle strokes. Grimmjow's free hand was around one of his thighs, his thumb drawing heavy circles on the inside of Ichigo's thigh. The combination of sensations was mind-numbing, and then Grimmjow took him into his mouth.

"Hiya!" Ichigo gasped, eyes going wide as wet heat enfolded his straining erection. He tried to thrust into the feeling, but Grimmjow's hand held him back, keeping him in place as the Espada deep throated him. The tightness was incredible and Ichigo made a soft, sweet sound of pleasure as Grimmjow hummed softly, letting him feel the vibrations. "Nnn… ah…" He panted softly, looking down at that blue head. Was it his imagination, or was there something strange in Grimmjow's eyes? It was hard for him to be sure, the arrancar wasn't looking up, intent on what he was doing. "G-Grimm…" Ichigo whispered his name as the heat built up, bringing him right to the edge. "Ah!" He gasped as he went over and Grimmjow made a small, pleased sound, milking him for everything he had.

"Grimmjow…" Ichigo swallowed hard as Grimmjow pulled away, wiping his lips. The Espada had a lazy, content look on his face, with only a hint of sickness. "Um… would you like me to do that to you?" He asked and the arrancar froze for a moment, eyes flicking upwards to meet his. Ichigo could only read wariness and suspicion in those blue orbs. "Did he ever do that for you?" Ichigo asked quietly. He rather doubted it. Grimmjow shook his head.

"No." He said, clearly thinking about it. Then Ichigo's inner hollow snickered.

_Liar. But maybe he doesn't think it counts, since it was a punishment._ Ichigo blinked, the words slipping out before he could stop them.

"A punishment?" That didn't make any sense. How could giving someone a blow job be a punishment? Then he winced as Grimmjow's hand clamped down painfully on his thigh.

"Don't listen to that fucker." From the fury in Grimmjow's eyes, he knew exactly what those words had referred to. "If you want to do that for me, I'm not gonna say no, Kurosaki." There was still hostility in those words, but also something warmer, something that wasn't rage and hate. Ichigo nodded and stood, pulling his pants back up. Grimmjow took his place on the bed, pulling down his sweatpants, and Ichigo took a moment just to look.

He'd seen the arrancar naked, of course, but he'd never really spent much time examining him outside of the injuries. Grimmjow was well endowed, and not to his surprise, the curly hair there was blue. He knelt between the Espada's legs and tried to imitate what the other man had done to him, gently licking the flaccid member. It didn't take long for Grimmjow to respond and that made it easier. Taking a deep breath, he took the Espada in his mouth, sliding his tongue over the thick length. The taste was… different. Salty and earthy, not unpleasant but odd.

Grimmjow made a soft, growling sound and Ichigo glanced up, afraid he was doing something wrong. But the Espada's eyes were half-closed and he had an absorbed, intense expression on his face. Ichigo bobbed his head, trying to take more of Grimmjow into his throat. He found he couldn't do it the way the arrancar could. How had Grimmjow learned to take him so far back without choking?

_Practice, King, lots of practice. He puked a few times._ Ichigo ignored that, wishing his hollow would just shut up. That was disgusting and way too much information.

"Nnngh…" That soft groan of pleasure electrified him, and Ichigo reached down, gently fondling Grimmjow's sac as he sucked. That had felt wonderful when the arrancar did it to him. "Yeah… yeah…" Grimmjow's hands were gripping his shoulders now, his hips moving just a bit. He realized that the arrancar was trying to hold himself back from thrusting into his throat. Ichigo rested a hand on his base, just in case, and then pulled back a little to prod Grimmjow's slit with the tip of his tongue. He could taste the pre-cum beading there.

It took a while to get Grimmjow off, but Ichigo enjoyed every moment of it, to his vague surprise. The Espada panted out a warning and the teen was ready, trying to swallow as the arrancar released. He didn't quite manage it, coughing a bit as he drew away, and a bit of Grimmjow's cum slid down his chin to splash against the arrancar's thigh. Ichigo blinked, breathing heavily, then blinked again as a warm hand suddenly gripped his chin.

Grimmjow drew him up and Ichigo felt mesmerized as he looked into lust hazed, brilliant blue eyes. Then he gasped as Grimmjow slowly licked the trail of semen from his chin, and followed it with a deep, searching kiss. His first kiss, and he could never have imagined it would happen like this… or feel this good. An arm slid around his shoulders and he found himself pressed firmly against the Espada.

"I admit, Kurosaki. Right now, you are fucking sexy." Ichigo shivered at the warm breath in his ear. The arrancar's grip tightened for a moment before he let go. "But we better get going before that fruitcake shinigami comes to see what's taking us so long."

"Uh, right." Ichigo blushed as Grimmjow stood, pulling up his pants. The thought of Urahara seeing that was just, well, wrong. But most of all, he wondered what Grimmjow was thinking and feeling. Did the Espada still hate him? Probably… but maybe not quite as much?

He could only hope.


	5. Awakening Minds

Author's note: I've been writing out of sequence, so at least one update will come much faster than normal. Until then, enjoy!

Grimmjow sighed as he curled up a bit more tightly in his nest of blankets.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_ He thought moodily. He didn't like the flashes of memories he kept having, he didn't like the feelings that came up, and most of all he didn't like the fact that he'd actually enjoyed blowing Ichigo off.

That fact kept haunting him. He'd had fun at Kisuke's, no doubt about it. And he'd been having fun even before Ichigo offered to give him a bit of pleasure right back. Why? Why had giving Ichigo a blowjob actually felt good? He didn't know, and his head started to hurt whenever he thought about it too hard. Cursing himself, he curled up more firmly in the blankets and tried to sleep.

But then something distracted him from his worries about Kurosaki. One of the sparks of power in his belly was reaching out to him, with curious and questioning intent.

"Awww." Grimmjow smiled as he met that sensation with love. It was strange. He'd done this once before, as an Adjuchas, but it hadn't been quite the same. More parental instinct than genuine love, but then, where did instinct end and love begin? It was so hard to say. This was familiar, though, and he knew what was happening. The cubs were just beginning to develop awareness and reach out to their source of food and ultimate protector.

He knew, from experience, that the cubs would keep doing that throughout his pregnancy. It was partly a survival tactic. A cub abandoned by its dam could survive, but not easily or well. The cubs would do everything they could to prevent that, and Grimmjow vaguely wondered how insects and reptiles could ignore their offspring when they did this. It hit every parental instinct he had.

It was also simply a curiosity about their dam. That curiosity turned to delight as the cub found him and recognized him for what he was. He closed his eyes, letting his awareness mingle with the cubs'. The other two were still unaware, but this cub was active and eager to get to know him.

That little presence soothed him like nothing else could, and he put aside his worries about Kurosaki and his own strange reactions. Sleep beaconed, and Grimmjow let himself doze off, still cradling that little spark close in his mind.

* * *

Ichigo yawned as he walked downstairs, then stopped dead at the scene in the kitchen. Yuzu was cooking something, but the strange part was what was happening at the kitchen table.

Yesterday, his dad had picked up some flowers from the grocery store for Grimmjow to arrange, but the arrancar had been too tired after his session with Kisuke. Now he was working on them, and Ichigo watched, bemused, as he tried to turn a bunch of grocery store flowers into a classical ikebana flower arrangement. Grimmjow had found some good sticks from somewhere, as well as a low slung vase, and the result had a flowing effect that captured the eye.

"That's beautiful, Grimmjow." Ichigo said with a smile and Grimmjow glanced up then nodded before glancing at his work.

"It ain't bad. It would be better if I had more ferns. It could use more green." He looked over his work critically. "It would have been good enough to sell in the shop."

"What shop?" Ichigo asked then blinked as Grimmjow winced, gripping his head for a moment.

"I… don't know. Just a shop. Any shop." The Espada muttered and Ichigo almost regretted asking. But why did that question bother him so much? Then his dad and Karin came down and started to ooh and aah over the little arrangement. That neatly distracted Grimmjow, who flushed lightly at the praise. Then breakfast was served, and Ichigo went to the couch as usual. He was shocked when Grimmjow joined him. "You seem a bit lonely over here, shinigami." He said and Ichigo managed to keep his jaw from dropping, but it was an effort.

"The table is too small for all of us." He said quietly, swallowing a bit of his eggs. "We'll have to get a new one before the babies arrive, and maybe rearrange things a bit." That worried him a touch, though. Three kids… the house was just too small. Even if all three of the cubs shared a room, how were they going to make this work? Grimmjow didn't seem too worried about that, though.

_He hasn't thought about it. _His hollow commented. _His instincts like a smaller den, easier to defend. And hollows don't keep their cubs around that long before driving them off the nest._ Ichigo grimaced to himself. That definitely made sense. Grimmjow was thinking about raising panther cubs, not shinigami babies.

"I wonder if I'll need to quit school and get a job." He murmured to himself. He would graduate high school, of course, but then? Three babies were an immense responsibility and while he knew his dad didn't blame him and was willing to help, he needed to step up to this. Grimmjow couldn't get a job, he couldn't imagine the Espada managing it without killing someone, and the cubs would need him anyway. He couldn't imagine the arrancar trusting his offspring to a daycare, and it would cost more than any job he could get would be worth. That left supporting his new family up to Ichigo. Maybe, if he could get a job that paid enough, they could all move to a bigger house. That would be better for the kids, especially as they got older. "Ugh." Ichigo sighed to himself. This wasn't the way he'd imagined his life going. He'd been planning to go to University and study to be a doctor just like his father. Those plans would have to be put on hold.

_Hey, why is it getting dark in here?_ His hollow complained and Ichigo shook his head at it. _We're already underwater and now it's getting dark and bubbling!_

_Be quiet. This is entirely your fault._ Zangetsu sounded more than a bit grouchy. _Ichigo, you shouldn't worry about that too much yet. It's entirely possible the children will age at an accelerated rate. _Ichigo blinked at the thought. _Hollows can't afford to remain helpless for long. If that is the case, you might not lose as much time as you think._

"Huh." He said to himself, then glanced at Grimmjow. The Espada was finished his food and was curling up on the couch, looking a little sleepy. "Grimmjow, how long does it take to raise a hollow cub?" He had no idea. Grimmjow shrugged.

"I dunno. Hueco Mundo doesn't have seasons, and it's always night. We can't measure the time the way you humans and shinigami do." He said and Ichigo bit his lip. That wasn't very helpful. "I'm just guessing a year? Maybe a bit longer, depending on the type of hollow. It all depends on how much you want to teach the cub before kicking them out the door."

"Ah." Zangetsu was right then. His children might grow up quickly. Ichigo wasn't sure if he hoped for that or not. It might make sending them to school difficult, if they were growing very swiftly, although it would let him go to uni sooner. "Um, Grimmjow?" He said quietly and the Espada looked up warily. "Can I touch them?" He suddenly wanted to feel them, and try to sense the life growing inside the arrancar. Yuzu had done it, so why not? Grimmjow blinked, then shrugged.

"Sure." He pulled down his pants just a bit and Ichigo gently rested a hand on his developing baby bump. It was still very small, but if he concentrated hard he could feel the little sparks there. And, to his shock and surprise, one of the sparks could feel him. He felt a sweet little welcome from that tiny life. "Grimmjow… that one, is it…?"

"Aware? Yeah. The other two should be waking up soon." Grimmjow smiled, and there was a bittersweet pleasure in his expression that took Ichigo's breath away. "I'm not sure how long it's been since he seeded me, but they're gaining awareness." Ichigo swallowed as Grimmjow lowered a hand to that tiny bump, their fingers brushing. Then he took the initiative, gripping Grimmjow's hand and twining their fingers together. The Espada seemed a touch surprised as their fingers met and brown eyes met blue. He leaned over to gently kiss Grimmjow on the cheek, not sure if it was a good idea or not. Then Ichigo yelped as the arrancar lightly punched him in the chest. "Don't get all sappy on me, shinigami." He growled. "These are my cubs, they'll probably bite you."

"Also my inner hollows cubs. I'm _sure_ they'll bite me." Ichigo said lightly, although what he'd felt from that spark belied the words. But there were still two to go. "I should probably invest in heavy duty gloves." Grimmjow pulled his hand away, to Ichigo's slight disappointment. But they had already come a long way, for the arrancar to allow that kind of touch.

"Might be a good idea, since you haven't got hierro." Grimmjow said with a small smile. "Even if the cubs don't mean to hurt you, little kitty fangs are sharp as hell." Then he paused, darkness flickering through his eyes. "Although I guess they probably won't be cats. Dunno what they'll be." He rested a hand on his abdomen and Ichigo was surprised to see how worried he looked. Then he realized that Grimmjow was as apprehensive about the children as he was.

"Grimmjow? Have you ever had cubs before?" He suddenly asked. Maybe he hadn't, which could definitely explain the worry. Did Grimmjow have any experience or was he running on pure instincts? The Espada scowled.

"I had cubs once." He said shortly. "My den was raided and they were eaten by another hollow. But I know how this goes." That made Ichigo flinch a little, but Grimmjow gave him a small, grim smile. "It was a long time ago, Kurosaki. Now, why don't you tell me how human infants go? Because I doubt I'll be coming home with a belly full of hollow meat and puking it up for them." Ichigo blanched a little at that image, but contained his nausea. That was exactly how a cat would feed their cubs, after all.

"Sure." Ichigo was able to describe it fairly well. He'd helped out with Yuzu and Karin when they were small. To his surprise, he saw a strange look on Grimmjow's face. His eyes glazed over and he seemed to be looking inwards? "Grimmjow?"

"Huh? Sorry, just… that sounded familiar." He muttered, pressing a hand to his head. "Nevermind. Are we doing anything today? Because I really want to nest and sleep." Ichigo frowned but decided to let it go. The Espada was under enough stress already.

"Nothing really, we're all doing our own things." His dad was going to the clinic, Yuzu and Karin were hanging with their friends and Ichigo had been planning to go to the mall and see about getting Grimmjow some baggy pants and shirts. He had a pretty good idea of the arrancar's size, and he doubted Grimmjow would be interested in trying on clothing. It wouldn't be fashionable anyway, since it had to be expandable. "You should get some sleep. Would, um, would you like to feed before I go?" He asked awkwardly. It was always so embarrassing to bring up, but he had a feeling that Grimmjow was letting it go a little too long. The arrancar's energy was often dipping severely by the time he wanted to feed. Grimmjow glanced away, hesitating.

"I guess I should." He said reluctantly. Ichigo nodded and pulled himself off the couch, going upstairs, the arrancar following. "It wouldn't be that bad if I didn't have to do it every damn day…" He heard Grimmjow mutter, and winced. "Maybe twice a day…" Ichigo bit his lip, holding back another useless apology. He just needed to concentrate harder on learning his kido, so Grimmjow didn't have to feed this way.

What followed was pleasant but quick, as Grimmjow wasted no time in getting him off. Ichigo moaned softly as that warm, flexible tongue teased him expertly and a hot mouth caressed his length. He rested a hand on the Espada's shoulder, his breathing speeding up as Grimmjow drew lazy little circles on the insides of his thighs. Then the arrancar deep throated him and Ichigo hissed a warning just before he released. Grimmjow swallowed everything and, to Ichigo's surprise, rested his face against his inner thigh.

"Grimmjow?" He said worriedly, resting a hand on soft blue hair. There was no reply. "Grimm? Are you okay?" Then the arrancar stirred, lifting his head and blinking.

"Just tired." He said, his voice a little raspy, and Ichigo could see exhaustion in his face. "Your powers are definitely coming back, Kurosaki. You gave me a lot there." Ichigo blinked as he realized the Espada was going into a food coma. The thought made him smile, but only for a moment. If his powers were coming back strongly, the need to hide them was even more urgent. "Just need to sleep." Grimmjow yawned and Ichigo didn't bother to offer to pleasure him. He could tell the Espada wouldn't be remotely interested at the moment. The desire for rest was overriding everything.

"Get some sleep, then. I'll be back soon." He told his unwilling partner and Grimmjow nodded, yawning again before he hid under the comforter. Ichigo smiled as he heard a soft little snore from under the blanket. He'd heard that before, but Grimmjow only seemed to do it when he was feeling particularly comfortable and safe. Frowning, he decided to go to Urahara's instead of the mall.

He desperately needed to learn to hide his powers, and soon.

* * *

A week or so later.

"And this should do it!" Kisuke said, holding up his newest invention with a smile. Grimmjow eyed it with disfavor. The black collar with the little gold heart looked entirely too much like his own collar for comfort.

"This will keep my reiatsu hidden?" Ichigo took the collar, examining it as Urahara nodded with a smile. "It looks like Grimmjow's. Did you do that deliberately?"

"Of course! I thought they would make a nice set." The nutty shinigami said happily and Grimmjow sighed to himself. Of course. "You can still use your shinigami badge to leave your body when it's on. Of course, everyone will be able to sense you when you leave your body." Kisuke cautioned him, and Ichigo nodded. Grimmjow tensed a bit as the teen fastened the collar around his neck, then relaxed slightly. The overwhelming feeling of Kurosaki's reiatsu was suddenly muted, but that was the only effect. "Now, Grimmjow-kun, I would like to check on your offspring again."

"Sure." Grimmjow wondered if the shinigami would notice the cubs had awareness. The tests he liked to use were kido based, so there was a good chance he would.

Sure enough, Kisuke's eyes went wide as he began the tests. All three of the cubs were aware now, and they were wary but curious about the strange power touching them. They all looked to him for reassurance and Grimmjow gave it, gently floating them his feelings of love. Then the brightest spark, the one that had awoken first, reached out to Kisuke.

"My word." The shinigami seemed awed, as he felt the little power touching him with questing and curious hands. "That is… amazing. I've never felt anything like this before." He whispered and Grimmjow blinked.

"You mean shinigami cubs don't do that? It's a survival mechanism, for hollow cubs. Helps them bond to the dam." He explained as Urahara looked at him questioningly. "And I told them you're alright, sort of, so they'll try to do it to you too."

"I see. Incredible." Urahara just stayed there for a moment, letting his awareness mingle with the cubs. Grimmjow could sympathize. It was a remarkable thing to feel for the first time. But the scientist finally pulled himself away, blinking. "Well, I do need to complete the tests." He said and kept running them. Grimmjow grinned as the cubs complained a little. From the sensations he was getting, the kido was tickling them. He just gave them more of his love and they settled down. "They're developing quite quickly. At this rate, I think your pregnancy will only last four or five months." Kisuke noted and Ichigo blinked, surprised. Grimmjow just nodded. He'd already been pregnant at least a month, so that would make it around five to six months, a reasonable time frame. He had no idea if it was similar to a shinigami pregnancy, though. "Of course, it's hard to say if the rate of development will be consistent. It might slow. And I have wonderful news!" He beamed at them both and Grimmjow blinked. "I've determined the sexes!"

"You have?" Grimmjow was a bit surprised by that, although he'd already guessed to himself that the strongest spark was female. In his first litter, the strongest cubs had been female. "What are they?" He asked and the scientist smiled as Ichigo waited with baited breath.

"One girl and two boys." He said cheerfully and Grimmjow glanced down at his stomach as Ichigo smiled. The baby bump had gotten much more pronounced in just a week. "And they are definitely developing on humanoid lines. It's hard to tell for certain exactly what race they will be, but so far a kind of born Visored seems most likely."

"Well, that's good news." Ichigo sounded relieved and Grimmjow glanced over at him curiously. "We'd be in trouble if they needed to feed like hollows."

"Nah. They'd just belong in Hueco Mundo." Grimmjow said, but the thought made him feel strangely sad. "Eh, they're better off here." The Living World was much safer than the sands. Ichigo nodded.

"And I want them to know their aunts and grandpa." He said quietly. "That would have been really hard, if they'd come out arrancar." Grimmjow frowned but nodded. Cubs in Hueco Mundo usually survived on the little creatures until they were strong enough to take on other hollows. It would probably be hard to find that kind of sustenance here, and the air was pretty thin. Not good for a cub.

"So it looked like your mom gets a namesake." Grimmjow said, wondering idly what the cubs would look like. Would they favor him or Kurosaki? And would any of them favor that damned hollow? He wasn't looking forward to that, but he wasn't going to judge his cubs for their appearance.

"You're going to name the girl after Masaki?" Kisuke sounded delighted by the idea. "Isshin will be so proud! That's very kind of you, Grimmjow-kun." Grimmjow gave him a look like he was mentally deficient. Kind? Him?

"I just like the name. Don't get so worked up." He said grouchily and Ichigo grinned widely. "What?" He asked the teen, but Ichigo just shook his head.

"Nothing. Just thinking of something." He said cheerfully and Grimmjow glowered at him suspiciously. Kisuke cleared his throat and they both looked at him.

"Let me check your injuries, please. They should be almost healed but I want to check." He said and Grimmjow grimaced before standing and disrobing. The shinigami poked and prodded him, then applied a bit of healing kido to his hollow hole. "Excellent. Everything is healing very well except for this area. Is this a weak point?" He asked and Grimmjow hesitated a moment before answering.

"Yeah. It's the best way to kill a hollow, smashing their hole." He admitted and grimaced as Urahara touched the edge. "Hey, don't do that." His reaction was anything but pain, and that was embarrassing. Kisuke didn't realize that, though, to his relief and pulled his hand away.

"Well, take care to get plenty of rest and food. Oh, I've gotten you an energy supplement!" Grimmjow blinked and glanced at Ichigo as Urahara fished out a large jar. The teen just shrugged. "Take these once a day. They're very useful for shinigami mothers to help prevent miscarriages, and from what I can tell they'll be beneficial to you as well."

"Hollows never miscarry unless they're either starved or beaten into it." Grimmjow said darkly, but accepted the bottle. "But if you think they'll help, I'll take 'em." His meals from Ichigo were getting stronger and that was nice, but any help was welcome. Urahara nodded.

"They certainly can't hurt. Even if they don't do anything useful, your body will just absorb the energy in them." He said and Grimmjow nodded. He could tell they were weakly infused with spiritual energy. "Now, would you both like to continue with your kido lessons?"

"Sure." Grimmjow said instantly. He was finding he really enjoyed kido. It could do so many things, and it was less exhausting to use than a full-fledged cero. It really made him wonder why Aizen had never taught them this. He'd sliced open Harribel for failing him, but it was like he'd crippled them by keeping this knowledge from them. Had he been afraid the Espada would become too powerful? Grimmjow supposed he would never know. Unless the bastard escaped from the prison, anyway. Then he might know all too well. Ichigo grimaced and he couldn't resist making fun of him. "If Ichi here can keep from blowing up the place, anyway."

"Hey! It wasn't that big an explosion!" Ichigo protested and Grimmjow grinned as Urahara laughed. "Oi, stop making fun of me." He muttered as the Espada smirked.

"But making fun of you is so much fun." He said and was surprised when Ichigo smiled at him. The kid almost seemed to like it when he mouthed off, sometimes. Grimmjow had no idea why. His hollow would have punished him for behaving like this. "Can you ask your hollow to loosen his grip a little?" He asked and Ichigo got that far away look he always did when he communed with his hollow. Then the teen nodded.

"You should be fine now." He said and Grimmjow tested his power before nodding. They practiced in the basement, and Grimmjow was able to move up to some slightly more powerful kido. They were a bit harder to master, and he could tell his lessons were going to get far more difficult as he travelled up the power scale. But that was fine. It was a heck of a lot harder to control a Gran Rey Cero than it was a regular cero.

There was a yelp as one of Ichigo's kido's blew up a bit more spectacularly than normal and Grimmjow sighed. Kisuke thought the problem was that Ichigo was trying to force too much power through his kido and losing control. He had no idea – teaching had never been his thing – but it was as good a theory as any. Leaving his own practice he went over to the shinigami, who was cursing and shaking his hands.

"Here, let me." He said shortly and gripped Ichigo's wrist, licking the burns. He'd tried his saliva on burns before, after the incident with the eggs, so he knew it would work. Sure enough, the discolored marks vanished. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you." Ichigo said gratefully and Grimmjow went back to his own practice, but it made him wonder. Why was he even offering to help Kurosaki? He could have just watched the shinigami deal with the pain, and before he probably would have.

"Must be the cubs." He muttered to himself. He was primed to be nurturing. That had to be the explanation.

And if it wasn't, he'd blame it on them anyway.


	6. Grimmjow's Story

A month or so later.

Grimmjow pulled the ugly hat more firmly down over his hair, curling up snugly in the seat of the car. It had taken a while, but he was finally getting used to things like cars and streetlights. Kurosaki had needed to rescue him once, when he'd been unable to figure out the walk sign and had nearly gotten hit by a car. How was he to know how it worked? When he'd had all his powers, he would have flown.

The gigai he was wearing now was a special, expandable type that would accommodate the children. It would need to come off for the birth, though. Right now, his baby bump was getting pretty obvious. Grimmjow wondered how long the pregnancy would run. Kisuke had said another four to five months, but he wasn't sure how long that would be. It was hard to keep track of time in Hueco Mundo, compared to the Living World, so he had no idea how long a hollow pregnancy ran. He just remembered it felt like forever, but that could have been his impatience.

All he was sure of was that his cubs were healthy and happy. They were fully aware now, happy and safe in their warm and squishy home. Grimmjow could sense their little emotions, and snuggled them in his power and love. The power was a little threadbare, maybe, but the love was all there. They knew it and snuggled him right back, their bright little sparks pulsing in time with his life force.

They finally reached their destination, and everyone got out of the car. There was still a bit of a walk past this point, but Grimmjow didn't mind. It was good to get out and stretch his legs. He was a bit uneasy about the place they were going to visit, though.

He knew what a graveyard was, of course. It was a place humans put the remains of their loved ones and made little monuments to them. Hueco Mundo had some places like that, although there were no bodies buried there. Just piles of stones and maybe a few bones, to mark the loss of someone who had meaning to someone else. Grimmjow had never made one, although he'd thought about it, after he'd lost his only other litter of cubs. Instead, he'd just carried the memories with him as he abandoned his den to wander the sands.

But despite that, this place seemed all too familiar. Grimmjow snarled to himself. He'd managed to avoid anymore of that uncomfortable déjà vu for weeks, but he could tell this place was going to give him a bad case of it. He had to go, though. Apparently this was a yearly trip and the Kurosaki family really wanted him along. They wanted to introduce the cubs to their grandmother. Particularly the one that would be bearing her name.

So he followed along dutifully, glancing at Ichigo. The teen seemed very subdued, but then, this wasn't a happy occasion. Although Isshin seemed determined to cheer his kids up. Grimmjow was a little appalled when he started babbling about a knocking over the tombstones contest.

"Hell no! They're expensive." He exclaimed without thinking, and then wondered how he knew that. Money was not something anyone had ever used in Hueco Mundo. Fortunately, no one was paying much attention to him and he rested a hand on his forehead, grimacing at the pain.

Yuzu was kneeling in front of the headstone and he thought about joining her for a moment, but he felt a vague yet pressing need to leave. Grimmjow had always tended to obey his instincts and he obeyed this one, quietly leaving Ichigo and the others. He walked through the carefully tended, well manicured graveyard, his sense of déjà vu only increasing with every step.

Then he reached a fence. It was padlocked and there was barbed wire at the top, to discourage anyone from climbing. Grimmjow just sneered. He could fly, just not well, and he climbed up before using that power to boost himself over, letting himself fall to the ground on the other side. He flexed his legs, taking the fall easily before continuing to walk.

Behind the fence was still a graveyard, but one that was not as well tended. The tombstones were old here, old and grey and worn. His fingers drifted over dull, pitted monuments and the pain in his head increased as he kept walking. He knew this place. It hadn't had as many stones and they'd been new and fine back then. But he still knew this place.

Grimmjow finally stopped at a tiny, half broken stone. He knelt beside it, trying to read the words. But it was hopeless. Cheap limestone, it wasn't meant to endure the elements for so long, and the damage it had taken would have obliterated them anyway. He reached out and ran a finger over the stone, feeling the cool edges beneath his fingertips.

_It was the best I could afford._ Grimmjow looked at the stone blankly, remembering. _It was the money that should have been her dowry. It wasn't much, but it was all I had._ Pain lanced through his head as a face came back to him, a snapshot in his mind. A pretty girl with a happy smile, long black hair held up with cheap pins, brown eyes filled with warmth and love…

Then the pain spiked, and the arrancar slumped over as the memories overwhelmed him.

* * *

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo called as he searched through the graveyard.

While they were at Masaki's tombstone, the Espada had quietly slipped away. Ichigo couldn't believe he hadn't noticed. But then, his hollow and Zangetsu had both been taken by surprise too. And for some reason, the hollow was having a tough time finding the arrancar. Theoretically, it should have been easy for him since he was constantly draining Grimmjow's strength. Zangetsu thought that he'd drained Grimmjow a bit too much, and that was making it harder for him to sense the flow of energy now.

_When we find him I'm punishing him. I don't care what you say King._ The hollow snarled and Ichigo resisted making a sharp retort.

"We should at least ask why he did this before you go shocking him with that collar." He said sharply. "Zangetsu, keep him in check, please." It was hard for him to block the hollow from abusing Grimmjow with the collar, but his zanpakuto could stop it effortlessly.

_Of course. I wonder why he did this? It seems strange given his nesting instincts._ Ichigo nodded ruefully at Zangetsu's comment. It was odd, and he would never have brought it up – Grimmjow hated him enough already – but the Espada was beginning to get a bit house bound. He'd stolen pillows from all over the house and moved into the closet, constructing a nest out of pillows and blankets. He had to be almost dragged out of the house, which at least made it easier to hide him.

_It is weird. In Hueco Mundo, the only way a pregnant hollow would be stirring out of the den is if they had to feed._ The hollow said, finally making a useful contribution. _Of course, he's kind of starving. Maybe he sensed a hollow or something and went to catch it._

"I don't feel anything like that." Ichigo murmured, trying to sense any hollows in the area. He had his substitute shinigami badge, but he really didn't want to use it. He was worried that might draw attention to him. Then he reached a fence and frowned. "Could he have gone over this?" There was barbed wire at the top, and it didn't look fun to climb.

_Oh sure. He can fly, a bit. More than enough to get over that._ His hollow supplied and Ichigo grimaced before starting to climb. He had to be very careful of the barbed wire, but he managed to get up and over without killing himself on it. _That would be funny as hell. Survived hollows, survived Soul Society, survived Aizen, died on barbed wire. Awesome._

"You're such a jackass." Ichigo muttered although he had to admit that would be amusing… if it happened to someone else. "Hmm." He began searching the older graveyard. This part of the graveyard was at least several hundred years old, and while they kept the grass cut, that was about it. No one brought flowers here anymore. "Grimmjow?"

_There he is! I feel him! Right over there!_ His hollow suddenly said and Ichigo blinked as he managed to pinpoint the wandering arrancar. He walked quickly, then broke into a run as he saw the limp form lying on the ground.

"Grimmjow?" He quickly checked his pulse and breathing, then looked him over with reiatsu sensing. He might not be very good at it, but this close he had no problem. Grimmjow seemed to be just fine, the sparks in his belly strong and stable. "Did you do something to him?" He asked his hollow suspiciously as he put a hand on the Espada's shoulder, trying to rouse him.

_What? No! That wouldn't even make any sense._ His hollow said irritably. _What's wrong with him?_ Ichigo frowned, shaking Grimmjow's shoulder harder. There was no movement.

"Shit." Ichigo considered what to do. If he couldn't wake the Espada, he would have to carry him… not that easy in his human body. Taking a deep breath, he rolled Grimmjow over and slid his arms under him, lifting the man up. To his deep worry, those bright blue eyes were open but strangely glazed over. Then he blinked as Grimmjow said something. It sounded like Japanese, but it was so badly mangled he couldn't make it out. "Do either of you have any idea what's wrong with him?" He said under his breath as he walked back towards the fence.

_Not a clue._ Was his hollow's contribution. But Zangetsu gave it a bit more thought and came up with something interesting.

_That graveyard is very old. I wonder if Grimmjow might have known it when he was alive? That sound he made could have been a dialect. Languages change, over time._ Ichigo's breath caught as he thought about that, and he glanced down, looking at Grimmjow's eyes. The arrancar's attention was clearly turned inward, his eyes lacking any real awareness.

"You think he might be having some kind of flashback?" He asked and his hollow responded.

_Could be. I've never heard of it happening before, but arrancar are supposed to be more like shinigami than most hollows. And now he's in the Living World on top of it. If he actually lived in Karakura town, maybe that grave triggered something. How are you gonna get him over the fence?_ His hollow asked and Ichigo paused, looking at the thing. The padlock on it was big and secure.

"Shit." He gently set Grimmjow down and tried to figure out what to do. "There's no choice, is there." There was simply no way he was going to haul the arrancar over the fence in his human body. He'd likely end up hurting them both. Biting his lip, he pulled out his shinigami badge and pressed it to his chest.

Popping out of his body was easy, and as he did Ichigo realized that his powers were fully recovered. There was no doubt at all, and he enjoyed the feeling for a moment before picking up Grimmjow and flying over the fence. Then he went back for his own body and also Grimmjow's hat. It had come off going over the fence, and while it might be ugly it was very effective at hiding the blue hair.

Once they were both over the fence, he quickly got back into his own body and hoped no one had noticed that activity. Lifting Grimmjow up, he carried him back to the gravestone. He was struggling a little – the arrancar was not light – when Karin spotted him and ran over.

"Ichi-nii, you found him, great!" Then she peered down into the unconscious hollow's face with a frown. "What's wrong with him? I haven't seen a stare that blank since the time Goat face tried to tell Mrs. Yakatora all about his day at the clinic." Ichigo snorted at the reminder. That had been pretty funny, especially when Isshin had mentioned lancing some boils in his usual cheerful way.

"Nice comparison. I think he might be having some kind of flashback to his living days." And Ichigo found that thought to be slightly alarming. Most of the things that drove people to become hollows weren't exactly nice. What would it do to the arrancar, remembering those things? And, even worse, could he have harmed the people he loved like Orihime's brother had tried to do? Would he remember if he had? "Can you go find dad and Yuzu? I'm going to take him to the car."

"Sure thing Ichigo." Karin dashed off and Ichigo was confident that she'd find them quickly. Grimmjow roused a little as he brought the arrancar to the car, but he still kept speaking that strange dialect. Ichigo was sure that Zangetsu was right, now. He could almost make out the words if he concentrated hard enough. They didn't make much sense, though. Sister? Was Grimmjow asking for Yuzu, or had he had a sister of his own?

"We're going to have to take you to Urahara." He murmured, although he wasn't sure what the shopkeeper could do. He doubted Kisuke would ever have come across a hollow in this condition.

"No." That word was recognizable and Ichigo blinked as Grimmjow struggled. "I can walk… fuck you…" He said, and he sounded like himself, just really pissed. Ichigo put him down, against his better judgment.

His better judgment proved to be correct when Grimmjow punched him in the stomach and took off running. He didn't get far, though, before his hollow brought him down with the collar. Ichigo didn't even protest as Grimmjow screamed something that sounded like an insult.

_Has he totally lost it? He's fighting through the pain._ His hollow said, then cursed. _I just threatened the cubs and he didn't even notice!_ Ichigo grit his teeth at that, going to Grimmjow's side. The Espada was writhing and cursing, gripping his collar.

_If he's locked in a flashback he may not understand his condition. Ease up on the pain but keep him weak. Ichigo should be able to contain him._ Zangetsu advised as Ichigo attempted to restrain the arrancar. It wasn't easy but fortunately the pain was making Grimmjow less than coordinated. He managed to grasp the blue haired man's wrists and yank them behind him, sitting on his back. Unfortunately, Grimmjow's struggles effectively rubbed his ass against his captor's crotch. Ichigo bit his lip as, with appalling timing, his body registered approval of the hard body against him.

For some reason, though, that made Grimmjow's struggles slacken. Ichigo looked up to see the arrancar looking over his shoulder at him curiously. Those bright blue eyes were intent and aware, but the way Grimmjow scanned his face made him think the Espada didn't recognize him.

"Grimmjow?" He said softly. "It's me, Ichigo. Are you okay?" Grimmjow tried to wiggle around but Ichigo kept a firm grip on his wrists. Then he seemed to submit completely, going limp beneath him.

"I'll be good Kai." Grimmjow said softly. Ichigo was relieved that he wasn't speaking that dialect anymore, but not so happy that he was talking nonsense. Kai? "Gonna spank me?" The Espada squirmed in a way that made Ichigo flush bright red and his hollow titter.

_This has to be a flashback. Oh, he's gonna be so pissed if he remembers this! I wonder who this Kai guy was?_ His hollow said, vastly entertained. But then Grimmjow suddenly tensed and started to yank on his wrists again.

"Where's Yume?" Grimmjow sounded afraid now and Ichigo blinked at the second unfamiliar name. "Kai, where's Yume? Where's the little woman?"

"Yuzu is fine, she's coming to the car." Ichigo said soothingly, making a guess that that was who Grimmjow was referring to. The names were very similar, and Grimmjow called Yuzu little woman all the time. The arrancar went still for a moment, tilting his head to one side.

"Yuzu… right. Yuzu. Yume isn't here…" Grimmjow muttered and for a moment he thought the Espada was getting a grip on himself. But then he dropped his head to the ground and Ichigo was absolutely shocked as a sob wracked his body. "Yume… Kai…"

"Grimmjow, it's okay." He said softly, letting go of the Espada's wrists so he could comfort the man. Grimmjow didn't resist, letting Ichigo pull him into an embrace. Then he buried his face in Ichigo's shirt, and the teen swallowed as he felt hot tears against his skin. "Shhh. It's alright." He couldn't believe Grimmjow was acting like this. It was completely out of character, like nothing he'd ever seen from the Espada before. But then, his past was likely something horrible and traumatic. Who were Yume and Kai, and what had happened to them? But at least Grimmjow seemed to remember who he was, now.

"It's not okay. It's never going to be okay." Grimmjow muttered before pulling away and rubbing his face. Ichigo was relieved to see the fire of rage in his eyes, the familiar hardness in his face. "And if you tell anyone I acted like that I will fuck start your head." That made him grin. That was the Grimmjow he knew and… knew.

"I won't say anything. I –" Ichigo stopped as Karin ran up, followed closely by Isshin and Yuzu. Isshin started scolding Grimmjow a bit as Yuzu tearfully asked where he'd been. Grimmjow's response surprised them all.

"Visiting my sister's grave." He said, calmly but with an edge of deep and profound sorrow. There was a moment of hesitation before Yuzu hugged him tightly. Grimmjow blinked, before gently hugging her back. "It's okay, Yuzu. I'm good and the babies are fine."

"Just don't scare us Grimmjow-kun. We can come with you to see your sister." She said and Grimmjow shook his head.

"Nah. It was a long time ago and I need to let it go." Grimmjow hesitated, glancing at Ichigo for a moment. "I can tell you the story later, if you want to know. I remember everything now. But it ain't a nice story." There would be no happy ending, no living happily ever after. Ichigo wasn't the least bit surprised.

"If you're willing, but not now." He said quietly, deciding the arrancar didn't need to see Kisuke. He seemed to be fully in control of himself now, aware of who he was and where he was. "We should get home." It probably wouldn't be a short story, and definitely the kind of thing they would want privacy for. Ichigo found he was very curious about it. What would Grimmjow's history as a living man be like?

He would have to wait to see.

* * *

Grimmjow looked into his teacup, wondering where to begin.

"Maybe the girls shouldn't hear this. It's pretty fucking depressing." He said, not looking up from his cup. He was starting to wonder why he'd said he would tell them about this. His history as a human… it had all come back to him. Every last bit of it, the good and the bad. But the pain of the ending almost obliterated the good parts. It had been bad, really fucking bad.

It did explain a lot about himself, though. Maybe that was why he wanted to tell them. It would help explain why he'd been such a violent ball of rage and hate, anyway. And the rage was still there, flickering in the back of his mind. Grimmjow didn't think it would ever go away. But that was fine. Anger was part of who he was, and it always had been.

"We're not little kids, Grimmjow. We can take it. Just don't get too graphic." Karin said and Grimmjow smiled briefly.

"Okay, you asked for it." He took a deep breath and began to tell the story…

* * *

_I'd say once upon a time, but this ain't no fuckin' fairytail._

_This is just a story of a guy. He wasn't a bad guy, he wasn't a good guy. He was just a guy, getting by any way he could, and this is his story._

_This guy, he had a mother and he knew her for a while. But she died when he was five, giving birth to his little sister. The baby would have died too, but this little kid, he begged and stole to get her some goats' milk and managed to keep her alive. He took care of her, she was his little baby. There was no one else to look after her._

_Sure as hell his dad wouldn't do it. His dad was a fucking drunk. He made some money working odd jobs around the town, but then he pissed it all away on booze. The kid hardly had anything to eat, but he made do, begging and stealing to feed himself and his sister. His dad only made things harder, he could go from happy to enraged in an eye blink. It was a rough way to grow up, but the kid made the best of it._

_When he was fifteen and his sister was ten, this guy was getting big and strong. One day his dad tried to beat him up, and the kid beat him up instead. He took his sister and got them out of there. They didn't have a place to stay, but he made them a shelter and started a fire._

_This guy didn't have any education. No skill, no training, nothing but strength. So when he got the opportunity to be a cage fighter, he took it. It was illegal and pretty disgusting. Just two men in a cage, beating the shit out of each other while people around them placed bets. But he was good at it and it put food on the table, food for him and his sister._

_His sister was the centre of his life. Really, she wasn't his sister, she was his daughter. He'd raised her from a baby, taken care of her, and she was growing into a beautiful woman. The men were starting to notice, but they were scared of her big brother. No one was good enough for his little woman._

_Sometimes, this guy did flower arranging for the local flower shop. It didn't pay much, but he was good at it and it was fun. Something he could do that didn't involve blood, sweat and tears. One of the days he was doing flower arranging, he met this other guy._

_Now, our hero was the kind of guy who noticed both guys and girls. But he'd decided a long time ago that he'd never have a family. He needed to save every penny for his sister's dowry; he couldn't afford a wife and kids of his own. And even when she was married off, he didn't want a family. He was scared that he might end up like his dad, nothing but a dead weight dragging them down. Which was pretty stupid, really, when you look at the job he did with his sister. But he was still scared._

_So when this other guy quietly let him know he was interested, our guy was interested. They went out to the park and talked a bit. The other guy was a scholar, a tutor just recently hired by the mayor to teach his kids. Our guy told him a few stories about the mayor, just the stuff everyone knew, but things that might be helpful to him. And from then on, they started meeting regularly._

_This scholar guy, he was small and pretty, with long black hair that he kept in a braid. Our guy was tall and big and strong, with short black hair. Everyone knew they were together but no one talked about it, because that just wasn't the sort of thing you did. They might have had more trouble, but no one wanted to start shit with a cage fighter._

_From the way they looked, anyone would've thought the big guy took the top in bed. It didn't work that way. He was a responsible guy, working hard and staying fierce and aggressive in his quest to put food on the table and look after his sister. At night, he wanted to unwind, let it all go. And the scholar liked being in charge of a big, tough guy like him. It worked well and they were together for two years, happy as bugs in a rug._

_Then it all went to shit. The big guy was twenty-three and his little sister was eighteen when it happened. She'd gotten a job at the tavern. The place had good bouncers and it was safe enough, and the walk home wasn't far. She had a man she was serious about, and he sometimes walked her home. But one night, she walked home alone. She should have been safe._

_She wasn't. She vanished and our guy spent the next week tearing the place up, searching for her. Then some kids found her in the pool, in the gardens. She hadn't been dead long, and he got to see her body, see what someone had done to her. It just about killed him, but he swore he would get justice for his little girl._

_But the constable, or whatever it was called back then, didn't give a shit. She was just a pretty girl, and pretty girls are a dime a dozen. He kept saying it had to be some drifter, some crazy man. Our hero didn't buy it. Someone had kept his sister for almost a week, and these assholes were saying it was a drifter? Yeah right._

_So our guy decided he was going to find out who did this. He was a good tracker, good in the woods, and his scholar buddy was smart. Together, the managed to piece together a lot of things. Things about the mayor, his constables, and poor girls who went missing then turned up dead. But they were also dumb, dumb as hell. They didn't think that if anyone saw what they were doing, they'd take steps._

_His lover was found with a slit throat, and they blamed it all on our guy. He was a cage fighter and had one hell of a temper; they must have had a fight, right? So they took our guy in and started trying to get a confession out of him. They started with interrogation, the kind that's illegal nowadays. Then they moved on to the hot irons._

_They tortured him for a week, but he never broke. He never gave in, never confessed. And the mayor was impatient. So they finally just forged his signature and sent him to the gallows. And that's the end. The day was done, the bad guys won, and there was no justice in the world._

_Except that they'd made a mistake. That week of torture had honed his rage like a whetstone hones a knife. He died in pain after pain, and he went hollow fast. Some hollows, they get really big, but he never did. He was a small little thing, all the power of his rage shoved into a tiny package._

_So justice came, in the end. He ate them all, even though he didn't know why. All he knew was his hatred and rage. And when they were all dead, he found more victims, because that's what hollows do. He turned into a powerful little monster._

_When he was strong enough, our guy made a portal to Hueco Mundo. He didn't remember his life, didn't remember his sister and his lover, but he still remembered the rage. And that rage made him powerful. He rose swiftly, and stayed small the entire time. He was death as he stalked the sands, but even in the midst of his anger and hate, he found a few other emotions. He tried to raise cubs, once. But his den was raided by a stronger hollow and his rage came out. He killed and ate that hollow, stronger or not, but it didn't bring the cubs back. So he swore off cubs until he was Vasto Lorde._

_That was his goal, his holy grail. He would be Vasto Lorde. If he could only get strong enough, no one would fuck with him. When he was Vasto Lorde, he could have cubs. He couldn't remember the family he'd lost, but he knew he wanted to make one again._

_Then he met a crazy shinigami on a power trip, and I won't bore you with the rest of the story. You already know. You were there._

_And that's how an Espada named Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez came to be._


	7. Nel's Arrival

Grimmjow lay in his nest of blankets, staring up at the closet cupboards and thinking.

When he'd told them about his past, Yuzu had cried a bit and hugged him. That hurt, because it reminded him of Yume. It was exactly what she would have done. But he'd hugged her, patted her on the back and assured her that it had been a long time ago. He didn't have to tell her that it hurt like it was yesterday.

Ichigo had guessed. He could tell from the sidelong looks the teen gave him, and the way he was trying to give comfort without crossing any lines. And that was pretty amusing, because he didn't know the lines had crumpled to dust under the weight of the memories.

With the knowledge of his past, Grimmjow finally knew why he'd hated Kurosaki so much. And there was no real reason. He hadn't needed a reason; he'd just needed a place to vent his hatred and rage. As an adjuchas wandering the sands that had never been a problem. Even when kills were few and far between, he had his fraccion to beat the shit out of.

Under Aizen, things had been different. He'd accepted the lunatic's offer because the alternative was death – he'd known that right away – but he hadn't enjoyed it one bit. He'd been surrounded by other arrancar, most of whom he'd have killed in a minute if he'd been allowed. Szayel, Nnoitra, that damned Loly… the list went on and on. He'd managed to spend some of his rage practicing, but even if he practiced all day he couldn't get it all out. And Aizen didn't want him beating people up for kicks, not even his fraccion.

That was why he'd been so intent on killing Kurosaki. If he'd been asked at the time, Grimmjow would have said it was because the teen was looking down on him, treating him like an equal when he was the King. And if he'd been asked why he was so angry and raging, he wouldn't have had an answer at all except a fist to the face of his questioner. Now he knew that his anger and rage came from his life and death and Kurosaki had just been a convenient target for those feelings. An actual enemy he could attack without holding back, and when the shinigami had declined to be stepped on, that had fixed his attentions even more firmly. Grimmjow had always liked to fight, it was what had made him such a good cage fighter.

And that revelation killed the rage and hate. There was still anger, but that was a habitual sort of feeling, the feral aggressiveness that had always served him well in life. It wasn't the same as the raging hatred he'd felt as an arrancar. No, this was what he'd felt as a living man, and it wasn't directed at Kurosaki. If anything, it was just directed at an unfriendly world that always seemed to shit on him at the worst possible time.

That didn't mean he was interested in Ichigo though. But it did mean that, for the first time, he could seriously consider the possibility. And the possibility was… intriguing.

The first thing to consider was that Ichigo was pretty damn hot. There was no two ways about that. Grimmjow licked his lips as he remembered how Kurosaki had looked right after blowing him off, his brown eyes big and surprised, a bit of white liquid trickling out of the side of his mouth. That had been so sexy he'd noticed even then, and hadn't been able to resist the desire to lick that bit of semen away.

So he wanted Ichigo's body and he was willing to admit it. It also helped that the shinigami was nothing at all like Kai. Grimmjow's eyes dimmed as he thought about his dead lover. He'd loved that man almost beyond reason, and with the return of his memories the loss was fresh. But it was over and done with and he needed to move on. If Ichigo had reminded him of Kai, that might have been harder. But the only person he'd met who actually looked like Kai was that stupid shinigami with the flower petals. What was his name again? Byakuya. Although he was a touch prettier than Kai had been. Not to mention a hell of a lot colder.

Grimmjow also thought he liked Kurosaki. He was a responsible kid, trying to take care of his family and the new family that had been thrust on him by his hollow. They hadn't really spoken too much – Kurosaki was trying to give him his space – but they got on pretty good when they did. And the children were going to tie them together for a long time. Before he'd remembered, Grimmjow had sort of assumed the cubs would be up and out of the nest fairly quickly. Now he knew that human children took more like fourteen years, sixteen or eighteen if you wanted to do a more thorough job. That was a long time and he was damned well not going to leave his cubs.

Of course, this wasn't just about what he wanted, it was about what Ichigo wanted. That made Grimmjow grin, because he'd seen the looks the shinigami had been giving him. It would be the easiest thing in the world to seduce him. Grimmjow had been handsome as a living man, and he was fucking gorgeous as an arrancar. Yeah, no problem. The question was, did he want to?

That question would have to remain unanswered. Grimmjow stiffened in alarm as he sensed shinigami power and curled up tightly in his blankets, trying to hide himself as much as possible. Then he heard a loud, familiar voice.

"Oh shit." The Espada breathed. The world was crapping on him again.

How the hell was he supposed to get out of this?

* * *

"This is a dumb idea, Rukia. He won't even be able to see us." Ichigo stiffened slightly but tried not to betray that he'd heard the voice behind him. Inwardly, he cursed himself for leaving the window open. But it was a beautiful summer day and he'd wanted the air.

"I know Renji, but we promised. Umph!" There was the sound of something hitting the floor but Ichigo just concentrated on his computer. He was playing Civ 5, it was a highly engrossing game. If he just kept his attention on it –

"ITSYGO!" That shriek made him jerk, and then he was tackled from behind. The weight was small but the velocity was high, and he just barely managed to catch himself before his head could smack into the monitor. Then little arms tried to choke the life out of him.

"Nel, let go!" He gasped out, twisting around in his efforts to get rid of the eternal child. He accidentally met Rukia's eyes and froze. Her eyes were wide with surprise and he knew she knew.

"Ichigo, you can see us!" She said, amazed, and Renji looked ecstatic. "Are your powers coming back? But they feel so muted." Rukia said worriedly and Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of what to say. Maybe he could pretend his powers were crippled and always would be? Urahara's collar was doing a good job –

"Dere's a momma hollow in heah!" Nel said excitedly, her head turning, and Ichigo felt his heart freeze in his chest. "Where's da momma?" She let go of him to run to the closet door. He tried to grab her but it was too late and she yanked it open. Then Nel stopped, her little brown eyes going very wide. "Mister… Gwimmjow… sama…?" She whispered, sticking a thumb in her mouth. The arrancar just growled, curling up in his pile of blankets and pillows. Then Nel suddenly perked up. "Yer a momma!" She leapt at the hollow in the closet, who cursed and tried to keep her away, putting a hand on her helmet. "Will you adwopt me?"

"Shit." Ichigo muttered. They were screwed. They'd been screwed from the moment Nel had shown up. Grimmjow had told him a bit about hollow cubs, and abandoned ones could scent a mother hollow miles away. It was dangerous – not all pregnant hollows had parental instincts – but the best hope for survival a cub had was to latch onto a mother hollow, preferably one that had already lost its cubs. And Nel was basically an orphaned cub. She would always be a child, but for her instincts that didn't matter. Right now she was trying to burrow into Grimmjow's blankets and feel his tummy. The Espada met his gaze for a moment and Ichigo read fear, anger and a ferocious need to protect in those electric blue eyes.

"Ichigo, what the hell is this?" Renji said and Ichigo turned to see both the soul reapers were staring at him. Rukia had her sword out, which made him reach for his badge. If it came down to a fight, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Rukia, put that away. He's no danger to anyone." He snapped and she hesitated a moment, frowning. "Now!" This was his house. He was not going to put up with this. Scowling, she finally obeyed and slid her sword back into its sheath. "Now, um… it's kind of a long story." Ichigo sighed, glancing at the wary arrancar in the closet. "The short part of it is, he's pregnant with my children." He said plainly. There was no point in trying to hide it. Rukia's eyes went very wide as Renji looked like he must have misheard something. "Take a seat and I'll try to explain."

It took a while, both to calm them down and get the explanation out. And certain parts of it took them on tangents.

"So these aren't actually your children?" Rukia asked after he explained that it was his hollow that had done the impregnating. There was a grumble from the closet and Ichigo glanced over to see that Nel was giggling as Grimmjow licked off her face.

"You taste fucking awful kid. Don't those dumbass brothers of yours clean you?" He heard the arrancar growl before turning his attention back to the shinigami.

"Technically, they are. My hollow is a part of my soul and shares my sexual orientation, and he used my reiatsu and DNA to make them. So yes, they're mine." He said firmly. Even if all the children turned out to be white as snow, they would be his. Or if they all had blue hair, for that matter.

"Wait, sexual orientation? You mean that you're…?" Ichigo could almost hear Renji's brain cells frying, and he scowled, giving his friend a hard look. His enemies would have recognized that look, and Renji would too. He'd seen it several times.

"I am. Is that a problem?" He asked softly and the two of them exchanged a glance, but avoided meeting his eyes. He could tell it was going to be a problem, and it hurt, it really did. But he didn't care if they never wanted to associate with him as long as they kept their mouths shut. "If you have to betray me to Soul Society, go ahead. I can't stop you. But make sure you warn them that I will do anything to protect my mate and children."

"We need to let the captains know that arrancar can reproduce." Renji muttered and Ichigo scowled. "That could be a big problem, Ichigo, you know it could!" There was a loud snort from the closet and all three of them glanced at the Espada.

"Hollows don't reproduce for shit, shinigami. All that time Aizen was in charge, we didn't have a single cub show up. I'm a cat, I'm a hell of a lot more fecund than most." Grimmjow growled and Ichigo blinked. He hadn't realized the type of hollow affected the rate of conception.

"Really?" Rukia asked, momentarily distracted. "The type of animal affects reproduction?" She asked but it was Nel that responded.

"Kitties're good momma's!" She said and Ichigo was amused to see that she'd managed to tuck herself into Grimmjow's nest quite firmly. "So're wolves an' rats an' monkeys an… an…" Nel ran out of things to list and Grimmjow sighed.

"Anything warm blooded will take care of a cub, although some are more nurturing, like cats. Rats, rabbits and cats are fecund, wolves less so, everything else hardly ever gets pregnant except insects and lizards. They bear all the time, but the cubs usually die." He said with brutal honesty and Ichigo winced. His hollow was a lizard, no wonder Grimmjow had gotten pregnant. "The only other cat arrancar I know is still alive is Mila Rose, and I doubt she's interested in having cubs."

"Mayuri would love to hear all this." Renji said and Grimmjow stiffened as Ichigo shot him a furious look. "Not that we're going to tell him!" He lifted his hands pacifically and Ichigo scowled.

"We have to tell someone." Rukia said, biting her lip lightly. "But I know Nii-san would tell Yamamoto." She hesitated a moment, glancing at Renji. "Maybe Unohana?" She asked and he shrugged, looking completely lost and more than a bit freaked out. Ichigo wasn't terribly surprised.

"If you have to tell someone, Unohana would probably be best." Ichigo was certain the compassionate healer would not want to see his babies hurt. How she would feel about Grimmjow, well… he wasn't too sure about that. But she'd probably be more willing than anyone to keep it quiet. "Just make it clear that my powers have fully returned and I will keep my family safe." He let the familiar fierceness enter his tone. If Soul Society was going to be the threat now, well, it would hardly be the first time. Renji gave him a skeptical look.

"Fully returned? You don't feel like – oh." He said as Ichigo reached up and undid his collar. They both leaned back as his familiar reiatsu filled the room in a crushing wave. "Where did you get that?"

"Urahara made it for me." He said, snapping the collar back in place. His reiatsu immediately went down to a more comfortable level. Glancing over at the closet, he saw Grimmjow was unaffected but Nel was huddling against him and looking at him with wide eyes. "Will you be taking Nel back with you?" He hoped they weren't planning to leave her here. And what had happened to her brothers? Were they still alive?

"Nel wants to stay!" She immediately protested. "With Gwimmy!" That made Ichigo chuckle. He remembered how terrified of him she'd been, when they'd fought in Los Noches. But finding that Grimmjow was pregnant seemed to have made him her best friend, and the Espada was tolerating it, if grumpily.

"The hell you will." He grumped, trying to grab the tiny arrancar. But Nel wiggled under the blankets and Grimmjow swore. "FUCK! KID! SHIT I am NAKED under there – OW!" The blanket went flying as Grimmjow tried to pry a reluctant Nel away from his nether parts. Ichigo thoughtfully shut the closet door before Rukia and Renji could get an eyeful.

"Hey Nel? What about your brothers?" He called through the door and there was a pause before she replied.

"They can come here! We can all stay with Gwimmy!" She sounded excited and Ichigo winced at the thought. "We can help with the cwubs!"

"NO!" The door opened just long enough for Nel to be forcibly ejected. She landed on the floor in front of him and looked up, her face woebegone and her big brown eyes filling with tears. Ichigo smiled and knelt beside her, patting her head.

"Don't be upset Nel, he's just a bit grumpy." He reassured her and she yelled his name before clamping around his neck. "Agh! Can't – breath –" Ichigo coughed before Nel loosened her grip a little. "Oof. How have things been going for you, Nel?"

"We been playin' eternal tag!" Nel lisped out. "But there's wots of shinigami in Los Noches! We has to stay away. Hawwibel wanted to know where Gwimmy was! Should I tell her Itsygo?"

"Huh? Uh, sure, why not." He said, running a hand through his hair. If Harribel was concerned for Grimmjow, she should know he was safe. There was a growl from the closet and the door opened just a crack.

"Why does Harribel want to know about me?" Grimmjow asked suspiciously. "I never hated her but we weren't friends." Ichigo frowned at that but Nel laughed.

"Gwimmy hates everyone! If you didn't hate her that's like bein' fwiends!" She said and there was a rueful grunt from the closet.

"Okay, you've got a point kid. Fine, tell her if you want. But no bringing your brothers here, this place is a fuckin' zoo already." Then the closet door closed again as Nel looked hurt. But Ichigo knew Grimmjow was dead right.

"The house is too small for your brothers and your pet, Nel. It's better that you all stay in Los Noches where you belong. But you can see the cubs after they're born, how's that?" Ichigo said with a smile. The thought of introducing Nel to his babies was actually very charming, and he was glad to see the little arrancar was alright. He'd been worried about that, but there had simply been no way to check on her with his own reiatsu fading. Nel looked disappointed at first, then smiled widely.

"Can you name one after Nel?" She said excitedly and Ichigo laughed. "Nel loves babies! Baby hollows is so cute!"

"Sorry Nel, there's only one girl and she's spoken for." He patted her head as she pouted a bit. "Better luck next time. But you'll get to see them and hold them." That thought made Nel clap her hands in excitement.

"You know the sexes? How many of them are there?" Rukia asked and Ichigo smiled, a touch proudly. He was getting used to the thought of having triplets.

"Three, two boys and a girl. As far as Kisuke can tell, they're mostly shinigami. He thinks they'll be a kind of born Visored." That seemed to reassure the two of them a bit. "He has a theory that most arrancar might give birth to children like that, but the only way to know for sure is to get two arrancar to mate, and when he brought it up to Grimmjow he tried to break his nose." It had been hilarious in retrospect, although at the time Ichigo had considered helping the Espada in his quest to hurt Kisuke. With that collar on, the arrancar hadn't had a hope of actually injuring the shopkeeper. Ichigo would have had a much better shot.

"I don't blame him. Well, we do have to get going back. We weren't really supposed to bring Nel here in the first place, she just begged a lot." Renji said, running a hand through his hair and looking at the little arrancar. She was trying to get into the closet again, but not having much luck. Grimmjow must have wedged the door closed. "Nel, c'mon, we need to get you back to your brothers." He said, bending over to pick up the little arrancar. She pouted a bit but went with him, although she kept looking back longingly as they carried her out the window. Ichigo was amused by the incredible attraction Grimmjow was exerting on Nel. It was like nothing he'd ever seen or imagined.

"They gone?" Grimmjow growled, cracking open the door again.

"They're gone." Ichigo said, and the door opened fully. Grimmjow was back in his nest of blankets. "Question. Why are you naked under there?" It was the first time the Espada had done that, as far as he knew. Grimmjow grimaced as Ichigo sat down beside the door.

"Those sweat pants are getting too tight." He answered and Ichigo winced. He was going to have to pick up some maternity clothes for Grimmjow, but they wouldn't fit right either really. They were made with women in mind and Grimm just wasn't built the same way. But they could probably have them tailored. Come to think of that, Uryu could likely do that. And he would need to start quietly telling his friends about this anyway. They were going to notice the babies, Ichigo did not plan to keep them hidden away forever.

"I'll see what I can get you." He gently rested a hand on the covers, astonished by how quickly Grimmjow was expanding. But then, there were three in there. He let his power gently touch those sparks and smiled at the welcome he got. "They're adorable. Hey… did Nel…?" If she'd touched them this way, it would explain why she was so stuck on Grimmjow. The arrancar laughed.

"Of course. She's not just a cub, she knows how to reach out." Grimmjow sighed, turning around in his nest so his head was close to Ichigo's knee. "I have a question for you, shinigami. How did you get strong enough to defeat Aizen?" He sounded honestly curious. "I never could've done it, and believe me I wanted to."

"Well, I practiced a lot." Ichigo started then stopped as Grimmjow laughed. "What?"

"If practicing was all it took, I'd be a fucking god Kurosaki. Get serious here." He said with a smirk and Ichigo flushed. The arrancar was right. Taking a breath, he detailed how he'd gotten his hollow powers and then how he'd mastered the final Getsuga Tenshou. Grimmjow's eyes went wide as he explained how it had destroyed his power. "And you thought it was going to be permanent and you did it anyway?"

"I had to. I had to defend my friend, my family, my town." He said simply and to his surprise, saw a deep sadness in the Espada's face.

"All to defend…" Grimmjow sighed, wiggling a bit closer and Ichigo stayed completely still as the arrancar rested his cheek on his leg. "I'd give anything to defend my cubs, but I'm a little declawed at the moment." He flicked the silver heard on the collar and Ichigo reached out, greatly daring, to gently pet that light blue hair. But Grimmjow didn't seem to mind, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. "And it didn't work out too well the first time, either." He said with a sigh and Ichigo swallowed.

"Sometimes… sometimes, you just can't get there in time." He said gently. "It hasn't happened to me yet, and I hope it never does." So far, he'd managed to save Yuzu and Karin from any threats. But the good guys did not always win and he knew that someday, he might not be there quickly enough. Fortunately, Karin was learning how to defend herself but he doubted Yuzu ever would.

"I hope so too." A warm hand squeezed his leg for a moment, and then Grimmjow retreated back into the closet. "I'm gonna try to get those pants on again, I don't wanna stay in here all day. And I can smell something, I think the little woman is cooking again." Ichigo sniffed the air, deciding it was likely chili. And the term Grimmjow used for Yuzu made him smile. Now that he knew it was affectionate, a holdover from his previous life, it didn't bother him a bit. It made him wonder, though. Grimmjow had called Orihime woman, and he'd thought that was a sign of his contempt for her. Had that been affectionate too? It was a strange thought.

So many things about the Espada were strange.


	8. Coming Clean

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo thoughtfully. The teen was sitting on his bed and reading a book. Apparently, he had to read lots of books over the summer for his schoolwork. Grimmjow had never been much of a reader. He'd never learned how, as a living man, and while he'd learned under Aizen it was just too late to foster any love of books. Reading was a struggle for him and he thought it always would be.

Before he'd remembered his past, Grimmjow had been impatient with reading and contemptuous of those, like Szayel, who enjoyed it. Now that he could remember, he remembered Kai and how the scholar would sometimes read him a story. It had been nice, especially since he always ended the stories the same way. And that witty, fatalistic comment had never failed to make Grimmjow laugh.

"Hey, shinigami." He said, prying himself out of his nest. It was quite cozy, but he sometimes did want to leave it and this was definitely one of those times. Ichigo looked up from his book with a blink. "That book anything good? Can you read me something?" He asked, wanting to feel that old closeness. Ichigo blinked again at the request, then grimaced as he looked down at his book.

"No. This book sucks. I hate poetry." He said frankly, dog earing his page and tossing the offending manuscript onto his computer desk. "Read you something? What did you have in mind?" Grimmjow shrugged, sitting down on the end of the bed.

"I dunno. Something short and fantastic. Like, you know, a story." Kai had mostly entertained him with fairy tales. Grimmjow couldn't really remember them, though. Just the way his voice had sounded when he read and the intent way grey eyes had looked at the pages in front of him, and sometimes moved up to him. Ichigo looked thoughtful for a moment then smiled.

"I think I still have it. Hang on for a minute." Ichigo went to the bookshelf and, with some difficulty, pulled out a very thin book. "I thought so! My mother gave this to me." He sounded sad as he brought the book back to the bed and Grimmjow tilted his head at the illustration on the front. It was of a young man painting a cat on a screen. "She wrote me a note inside, so I always kept it."

"A children's book?" Grimmjow asked, not in the least bit offended. That would be short enough to read easily, and he liked the pictures. Ichigo nodded.

"It's the story of the Boy who Painted Cats." He said and opened the book, reading it out loud. He was pretty good at it, Grimmjow noticed. But then, he had two sisters he'd no doubt practiced on. The Espada let himself flop down beside Ichigo's legs, curling up a little and trying to get peeks of the book as he listened.

The story was pretty good and vaguely familiar. Grimmjow thought that perhaps Kai had told it to him. The boy in the story was sent to a temple to be an acolyte, but loved to paint cats, and put them on all the screens. The priests decided he was not meant to be one of them, and he should try to be an artist instead. And as they bid him farewell, the priest had told him to beware of large places and stick to small. The boy, dejected and afraid to go home with failure, tried going to a larger temple instead. That temple had been abandoned, but he didn't know that. A goblin-rat had taken up residence and frightened all the priests away, and eaten several warriors who had gone to slay it. The boy arrived at night and found the place empty, but with several screens that begged for cats. He painted his cats, and remembered what the priest had told him about large places. So instead of sleeping in the middle of the temple, he'd found a cabinet to sleep in. Horrible sounds awoke him in the night, and in the morning he'd left his cabinet to find a dead goblin-rat in the middle of the temple and all the cats he'd drawn had bloody mouths and claws. And he'd gone on to become the greatest artist in Japan.

"I like that story." Grimmjow said, gently tracing a circle on Kurosaki's leg as the shinigami looked down at him curiously. "Since it's the cats that save the day, heh. Definitely my thing." He'd liked cats a lot as a living man. Had that been why he'd become one? It had probably been a coincidence. Kai had been a dog person, one of the few things they'd definitely disagreed on. "Hmm." A part of him that had been ignored for far, far too long was coming to the fore. Grimmjow honestly couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten laid as an arrancar. His shitty personality, full of anger and endless rages, had easily kept everyone away. And Ichigo's inner hollow didn't count. Smiling softly to himself he wiggled up a little and caught the edge of Ichigo's shirt with his teeth. The teen made a surprised sound as he pulled up the fabric then dipped his head, nuzzling tight abdominal muscles. Kurosaki had an excellent six pack, and he let his teeth graze the hard flesh, smiling at Ichigo's stifled moan.

"Grimmjow?" The teen sounded a bit breathless at the attention. "Do you need to feed?" Grimmjow chuckled, using his hand to slide the shirt up a bit further as he kept exploring with his tongue and teeth.

"Nah." He said softly, glancing up with wicked amusement in his blue eyes. Ichigo's brown eyes were wide and shocked. "I'm just sexing you up."

"Wha… why…?" Ichigo questioned then moaned softly as Grimmjow slid a hand beneath his jeans, playing with what was contained there. "Oh…!" Grimmjow smiled as he looked into a delicately flushing face. Kurosaki looked fine like that, his breathing coming quickly and his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed.

"I think I like ya." Grimmjow said softly, his voice a purring growl as he slid the shirt up a bit further and moved up to delicately caress the teen's nipples with his tongue. He kept his hand busy in Kurosaki's pants, and smiled at how tight they were getting. "And I know I don't hate ya anymore. You know why I hated you, Kurosaki?" He hadn't told the teen about his revelation. Now might be the time.

"You said… I looked down on you… because I acted like you were… an equal…" Ichigo muttered, clearly unable to concentrate. Grimmjow chuckled softly, his breath hot against pale skin.

"Nah. I hated you because I needed to hate. I needed a target, and Aizen wouldn't let me kill my 'comrades'. So that target was you." Grimmjow gently nipped heated skin, then soothed the small red mark with his tongue. The tiny hickey vanished instantly. Ichigo gasped, his brown eyes wide as he watched the Espada. "But I don't hate anymore, not like that. I was outta my mind, and I didn't even know it. Now… I'm sane again. So I like ya, and it's been so long since I did this and wanted it." His eyes darkened a little as he thought about the pale bastard, but then he shook his head. He'd had lots of practice at ignoring traumas throughout his life, both as a man and a hollow. He could ignore this one. "So show me some fire, Kurosaki." He said in his best bedroom voice, and had the pleasure of seeing Ichigo swallow, hard. Then the teen's hands were behind his head, pulling him in for a deep kiss. Grimmjow vaguely noticed that Ichigo tasted like mint, but didn't pay much attention to it, just savoring the feeling of that hot mouth on his.

Grimmjow found himself taking the lead, not entirely to his pleasure. He vaguely wanted to fall back into old patterns, let his partner dominate him in the bedroom. But Ichigo was too inexperienced and there was a pleasure in introducing him to things. So he slid back down, pulling down Ichigo's zipper with his teeth in a slow, sensual move. Then he hooked his fingers under the waistband of his underwear, pulling the fabric down. It took a bit of squirming – the damned things were much too tight – but he got rid of his sweatpants, not bothering to remove his shirt.

Resting a hand on Ichigo's belly, he took the teen in his mouth again. There was a throaty groan from his mate and Grimmjow enjoyed the reaction, but he wasn't trying to get the teen off right now. No, his goal was to spread as much saliva over that erection as he could. Pausing for a moment, he licked his fingers, sucking them thoroughly before reaching behind himself. It wasn't the first time he'd prepared himself and he didn't mind taking care of it.

"Grimmjow, what are you…?" Ichigo sounded a little confused and very turned on, pushing himself up onto his elbows to watch the Espada. Grimmjow let go of his erection with a small pop, glancing up at him with a grin.

"What's it look like, shinigami?" He said teasingly before crawling back up the teen's body. He paused to give the teen a deep, passionate kiss. "I want you to fuck me like the cat I am." He paused and Ichigo just stared at him, both turned on and clueless. "That means move, dumbass." He said with a laugh and Ichigo blushed before sitting up and giving him room. Doggy style – or in his case, kitty style – was far more comfortable with his baby bump getting in the way. Grimmjow was starting to look like he'd swallowed a soccer ball, but that wouldn't matter a bit in this position. "Do me Kurosaki." He let all the heat, all the desire coil in his voice. He wanted this, wanted it so badly. Long ignored desires were making themselves known, and the fact that he liked Ichigo and the shinigami was so damned hot, only made it better.

"Grimmjow, you're the sexiest thing I've ever seen." Ichigo said breathily and the Espada chuckled, then groaned as the teen began to penetrate him. It hurt – saliva wasn't the best lubricant, although he didn't have anything better – but that didn't bother him much. He was used to pain. And Ichigo's hand was on his length, stroking and squeezing him, which helped a lot.

Grimmjow gripped the sheets, fingers digging into the mattress as the teen began fucking him in earnest. That hot length inside him kept teasing his prostate, just barely hitting the sensitive bundle of nerves and making him whimper with desire and need. Then Ichigo seemed to sense something and adjusted his angle. The next hit was dead on, and Grimmjow gasped at the surge of sensation. It felt good, no, it felt fucking excellent.

"Harder, ah, faster, shit!" He growled out, then gasped as Ichigo quickened his pace, his body shaking with the force of his thrusts. A low, feral growl escaped his throat. Not a sound he would have made when he was alive, but then, that man was dead. He was a panther and an arrancar now. "Fuck yes!" He snarled, and Kurosaki made a soft sound of pleasure, fingers of one hand digging into his hips, trying to pull him closer. The hand on his cock didn't let up for a moment, teasing him deliciously as Ichigo speeded his thrusts.

"You feel so good…" The teen panted out and Grimmjow grinned, glancing over his shoulder to look at him. Kurosaki was flushed and sweating and the look on his face was goddamn adorable, full of heat and pleasure. He met those brown eyes and knew Ichigo was seeing a feral lust and pleasure in his face.

"You feel fucking great too." He managed to say before growling again as Ichigo hit his sensitive spot, sending sparks of fire through his body. "Ah shit!" He cursed as his body betrayed him, his orgasm coming quickly. The pleasure of Kurosaki's body inside him and the hand on his length was too much to resist. And it had been a long time since he'd gotten it off like this. His body was hypersensitive and ready to go. Fingers dug into the covers and he howled like a cat in heat as he released, his cum painting the blankets under him. He felt Ichigo thrust even harder into him, the teen's thrusts becoming quick and erratic for a moment before he followed with a more human sound of pleasure. "Che." Grimmjow mumbled, resting his forehead on the blankets for a moment. He was feeling dazed and exhausted, but better than he had in years. Then he looked up as he felt Kurosaki lying on his back, and smiled as the teen nuzzled his cheek, giving him a gentle kiss. "Don't get too sappy with me, shinigami." He murmured, not bothering to hide the affection in his voice. "I'm still a violent bastard." Ichigo chuckled softly before sliding away to lie beside him on the bed. Grimmjow moved onto his side, giving him a bit more room. Ichigo curled up behind him and pulled a blanket over them. Grimmjow let himself fall into a light doze, but before he could fully drop off, he heard Kurosaki whisper in his ear.

"I know you are, and I wouldn't want you any other way." The shinigami said and that made Grimmjow smile as he slid off into dreamland.

* * *

Ichigo sipped his coffee as he waited for Uryu and Inoue to arrive.

He'd decided it was about time to come clean with his friends. He needed Ishida's help to tailor some clothes to Grimmjow. He'd bought some maternity clothes, but they just looked odd on the Espada and didn't necessarily stay on too well. He was lacking in the hip department, compared to most women.

Ichigo really wondered how his friends were going to react though, especially Orihime. Grimmjow hadn't abused her, from what he'd heard, but the Espada's attentions had been mixed to say the least. One moment saying he was repaying her for a favor, the next carrying her off in a bag, her hands chained, all to heal him for a chance to fight him again. And he hadn't been above making threats when she tried to refuse. Ichigo had a feeling that Orihime wouldn't be too glad to see the Espada again. Uryu just hadn't had much to do with him, aside from witnessing a few fights between the two of them.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo looked up from his coffee with a smile at that call. Inoue was wearing a t-shirt and jeans that hugged her curves and would have made any heterosexual man notice. Ichigo didn't notice at all. Uryu was behind her, carrying a bag from Victoria's Secret and blushing slightly.

"Orihime, Ishida! How have you guys been?" He asked, giving them both a smile. Orihime laughed before taking a seat beside him. Uryu said across from him, storing the bag under the table.

"Wonderful! We arrived a bit early so I went to get some bras." She said happily and Ichigo glanced at the bag. "Would you like to see?" She said innocently and Ichigo quickly shook his head.

"That's okay." He said, completely missing the slight disappointment in her face.

"You said you had something to tell us, Kurosaki?" Uryu said, cool and calm as always. Ichigo hesitated a moment before nodding.

"I need to come clean with you guys. I've been hiding it for a while, but my powers are back." He said quietly and had the pleasure of seeing Orihime gape and Ishida blink. "You have to keep this secret. I can't allow Soul Society to know."

"Soul Society? Why?" Orihime's beautiful grey eyes were wide, and they got wider as Ichigo began outlining the situation. She seemed absolutely stunned at the revelations, although Uryu was a bit less surprised. He was rather sarcastic about the whole thing, though.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly. You were regaining your powers without realizing it, and your inner hollow captured the Espada, made him into a sex slave and impregnated him." Ishida said and Ichigo winced at the blunt, but accurate rendition of events. "Said Espada is now living with you and creating a nest for his children. And you want me to tailor some maternity clothes for him?" Ichigo nodded and Uryu sighed. "Only you, Kurosaki."

"Oh, shut up." Ichigo snapped, flustered. "Will you help me or not?" If not, Grimmjow would just have to make do. Or even go naked a lot of the time, which the Espada would actually be in favor of. He wasn't very fond of most clothes anyway, especially confining ones. His hakama and jacket had been pretty loose, when he'd been in Aizen's army. Ishida thought about it a moment then suddenly smiled.

"Of course. I can't wait to see the only pregnant arrancar." He said and Ichigo winced, wishing scientists didn't find Grimmjow quite so fascinating. "My father will probably want to examine him sometime."

"Along with everyone else." Ichigo sighed. Unohana was going to be coming to Kisuke's as soon as she could get away without causing any suspicion. From what Rukia had said, she dearly wanted to examine the arrancar. Grimmjow wasn't too happy about it, but he was going to allow it for the sake of keeping the peace. "My father has already given him a thorough checkup." Isshin was helping Kisuke now, in fact. Grimmjow was actually handling it much better than Ichigo thought he would have. Orihime looked apprehensive. "What?"

"He hasn't killed anyone yet?" She asked and Ichigo blinked. "I can't imagine him allowing all this in Los Noches." She explained and he nodded. She did have a point.

"The collar prevents him from using most of his powers. He doesn't even have much hierro." Although he had managed to convince his hollow to ease up a little on that. As the cubs became more developed, Grimmjow would be able to take less and less damage before risking losing them. "And… he's not the same person you know, Inoue. He's remembered his past as a human man." Ichigo said quietly, remembering how Grimmjow had told that story. Just a guy, he'd called himself. Ichigo thought he'd never been just a guy. "Remembering seems to have changed his personality a little. He's not as angry as he used to be." And the hatred seemed to have completely disappeared from the arrancar, which was a huge relief.

"You're saying you've managed to tame him?" Uryu said skeptically and Ichigo had to resist the urge to snap back.

"He's not a pet, Uryu. He's still angry and he likes to fight, he's just a bit more human than he used to be. And a lot better at rational thinking." If he had to quantify the difference between Grimmjow before and Grimmjow as he was now, the ability to hold back his temper and rationally consider things would have to be the main difference. As an Espada, Grimmjow had hardly ever been able to restrain himself, and usually only when Aizen forced him to. The collar and cubs had forced him to restrain himself, but that had been a false surface of calm over the raging hate and anger. What he was seeing now was a more genuine restraint, coming from within the arrancar. "Why don't we go and you can meet him?" He suggested and while Orihime looked apprehensive, they both agreed to come to his house.

Amusingly, as soon as they went inside, his friends got a bit of proof of Ichigo's words.

"So I get to beat the shit out of this? Excellent." Grimmjow's voice floated out of the kitchen as Yuzu laughed. Ichigo blinked, a bit mystified, and led his friends to see what they were doing.

"Oh. You're making bread?" He looked at the doughy mass that Grimmjow was pummelling. The Espada looked up with a grin.

"Yeah. I never knew how to do this. Hell, Yume didn't know how to do this. But then, the little woman didn't have a kitchen. We had a fire pit – oh." Grimmjow's grin vanished for a moment, replaced with a frown as Uryu and Orihime cautiously stepped into view. Then he suddenly grinned again. "Hey woman, long time no see."

"Hello Grimmjow-kun." Orihime gave a cautious smile and wave but stayed well back. Uryu adjusted his glasses, looking over the arrancar.

"I can see why you want my help." He said and Grimmjow nodded as he worked over the dough. Ichigo looked at his clothing and sighed to himself. The light blue maternity pants he was wearing had a drawstring, which helped hold them in place, but the shirt he was wearing was baggy in all the wrong places.

"Ichigo said you should be able to fit this shit to me. Is that good enough, little woman?" He said and Yuzu looked over the dough for a moment.

"It should be fine Grimmjow-kun. I'll take care of them, you go with Ichi-nii." She told him with a smile and Grimmjow smiled, going to wash up his hands, which were a floury mess. As soon as he was done that, they went to Ichigo's room and Uryu pulled out a tape measure.

"You seem rather large. How far along are you?" Uryu asked curiously and Grimmjow shrugged.

"About four months or so. It's hard to say exactly. I've got two or three more months to go. There's three of 'em in there, so I'll be getting a hell of a lot bigger." He said, making the Quincy blink.

"I see. Are you worried about the birth?" He asked and Grimmjow frowned, looking away. Ichigo blinked. He hadn't thought to ask that, since Grimmjow had said that he'd already been through this as an adjuchas. It hadn't occurred to him that the arrancar might be worried.

"…Yeah." He said quietly, to Ichigo's surprise. "Giving birth as an adjuchas was easy, just like a cat. But I know humans aren't like that. I know this could be a damned sight harder." His eyes were dark for a moment with remembrance, but then the Espada shrugged. "But there's nothin' I can do about it so no point in worrying myself. You about done, Quincy?"

"I think so. Ah… can I touch them?" He asked hesitantly and Ichigo grinned at the magnetic attraction a pregnant belly seemed to hold. Orihime was clearly torn between fear of Grimmjow and the deep desire to feel the growing babies. Grimmjow sighed, resigned and amused.

"Yeah, sure." He said and Uryu rested a hand on his belly. "You want to feel something special, reach out with your power, Quincy."

"What do you – oh!" Uryu's surprised sound clearly indicated that he'd made a connection. "Oh… my. Is that normal?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded.

"Normal as normal can be. Although they're sweeter than my last litter, I think. Hey woman, you want to feel 'em?" He said to Orihime, who blushed but quickly went to his side. Her grey eyes went wide as she felt a happy welcome from the cubs. "Active little bastards. I expect they're gonna be kicking the living shit out of me soon." Grimmjow sounded proud of his offspring and Ichigo smiled, stepping up behind him to put an arm around him. "Oi, I'm surrounded, what the hell." He complained, but with good humor. Uryu pulled his hand away with a small smile.

"I see that you have changed. I'll try to get a few of these outfits tailored as quickly as possible, and do the rest a bit more slowly. I do have summer reading and father expects me to help at the clinic." He cautioned and Ichigo nodded as Grimmjow leaned against him. Orihime was clearly very reluctant to leave his pregnant belly.

"You can stay a bit longer, if you want, woman." Grimmjow said as Orihime began to pull her hand away. She blinked up at him, surprised.

"You don't mind?" She asked hesitantly and Grimmjow laughed.

"Nah, I like you. But let's take this to the living room so I can sit down. Carrying these little lead weights is kinda tiring right now." He said and Ichigo grimaced to himself. He knew that was because of his hollow's drain on the Espada's strength. But there was nothing much to be done about it.

They would just have to make do.


	9. Little Warriors

Grimmjow frowned as he looked at the book in his lap.

It was a children's book, with bright illustrations and a simple but engaging storyline. Well past the "watch Spot run" kind of books, it was still suited to a young audience. Which, given Grimmjow's difficulty with reading, suited him just fine. Looking at the pictures helped him puzzle out the words.

He'd decided he wanted to learn to read better. Ichigo read things all the time, magazines, books, newspapers. Grimmjow knew from his time with Kai that reading could be a pleasure, and he thought it depended on being able to read so well it was second nature. He wasn't sure he could achieve that, but he was planning to try. Reading had been a rare and sought after skill, when he was alive. Now it was common as dirt but absolutely vital. He wanted to be better at it. The only annoying thing about his new efforts was the thought that Aizen would have been pleased to see his Espada finally hitting the books.

Grimmjow frowned as he felt a hollow, not that far away. That damned hollow of Ichigo's seemed to be easing up a bit, permitting him more power, although he still hadn't found the nerve to ask for his sword back. Or maybe, he was just afraid Ichigo would say no. It would hurt the trust between them, so he was avoiding the issue entirely, although part of him ached to have Pantera back at his side.

Now he regretted not bringing it up. That hollow was pretty close. Of course, it probably couldn't detect him at all with the collar in place, and even if it did he could probably kill it with his bare hands. He sensed it moving away and went back to his book.

Then Grimmjow frowned, sitting up. He was sitting on Ichigo's bed – the lighting was good, and it was close enough to his nest to feel safe – and he peered out the window. Hadn't Yuzu said something about going to Kisuke's? Something about a tremendous amount of candies for five hundred yen. Grimmjow couldn't understand spending money on something as unnecessary as candy, but then, he didn't like the sweet taste anyway. Wasn't Kisuke's shop in that direction?

Grimmjow agonized over it for a moment. He was probably worrying over nothing. Sure, Urahara's shop was going that way, but so was half of Karakura town. It didn't necessarily mean anything. And the resident shinigami should be on the job.

Unfortunately, his own logic didn't impress him. Grimmjow had no faith in the shinigami. It was a simple fact that he'd eaten at _least_ five of them when he was a basic hollow. Of course, he'd been damned deceptive. Hollows just starting out were usually huge, directly reflecting their power. He'd been small, about the size of a child, and they'd fatally underestimated him every time. Grimmjow actually thought he might have eaten as many as eight. That time was more than a bit hazy in his mind.

And Ichigo couldn't respond. He had his badge, and he'd know there was a hollow in the area, but he couldn't leave his body without risking tipping off people who would be a lot less friendly than Rukia and Renji. If something happened to Yuzu when he ignored the call, no matter how necessary it was, it would just kill him. Grimmjow knew it. He'd have felt the exact same way.

He felt that way now. Cursing quietly to himself, he went downstairs. He wasn't wearing his gigai, which would allow him to do a hell of a lot more in terms of power. Kido was probably the way to go, if anyone sensed it they'd think he was shinigami. Weaken the thing, then close in for the kill. Grimmjow's mouth watered at the thought of a proper kill. Weak or not, another hollow would be delicious. Still, if Yuzu wasn't there he'd probably shadow the thing for a while, then come back home. He was risking a lot, doing this.

Unfortunately, his paranoia was right. Grimmjow cursed as he saw Yuzu running home as fast as her little legs would carry her, candy spilling out of the bag she was still clinging to. A spectacularly ugly hollow that looked a bit like a hammerhead shark was following her. Grimmjow ran right past her and he briefly saw her eyes widen before he stood in front of the hollow.

The creature skidded to a halt almost comically and Grimmjow cracked a smile as the thing looked him over. He knew what a weird image he was presenting to the hollow. This close, it would know him for its own kind, but he was dressed in yellow maternity pants and a bright orange t-shirt. The ugly hat didn't help matters and he tilted his head back to glare at the thing.

"_What the hell are you?"_ The hollow questioned and Grimmjow blinked. Most hollows at this stage of development were basically mindless. He'd actually been more mindless than most, although he'd had a brutal animal cunning. That this one was talking, well, he wasn't sure what it meant.

"Someone above you, newbie. Way of Destruction: Pale Lightning!" Power lanced from his finger and the hollow roared as it penetrated his body. A great hand swung at him, but Grimmjow dodged it easily. Then the creature was charging at him, but even weakened, he wasn't worried. "Thrust!" He didn't need the full incantation for the very first Way of Destruction, not any longer. He put plenty of power into it and the hollow fell on his ass with another howl, then spat a glob of something wet and nasty at him. Grimmjow lifted his hand and incinerated it with a miniature cero. Then he gripped a street sign, tearing it out of the ground. "Way of Destruction: Bound Lightning!" The sign became infused with electricity and he used it to start pounding the shit out of the baffled and angry hollow.

Then a wave of weakness ran through him and the kido sputtered and failed. Grimmjow realized, with horror, that Ichigo's hollow had realized he was up to something and he'd taken steps to stop it. The damn thing either hadn't considered or didn't care that his 'pet' might be in danger and fighting. Pain lanced through his collar and Grimmjow staggered, dropping the sign and trying to fight through the pain.

The hollow sensed his sudden weakness and tried to pound him. Grimmjow couldn't move fast enough to dodge, so instead he caught the hand, holding it away from him with simple force. But the hollow had two hands.

The second fist hit him like a battering ram, sending him into a nearby building. He crashed through the wall into a thankfully empty kitchen. Grimmjow coughed harshly, resting a hand on his belly as he struggled to rise. His hierro had dipped back into almost nonexistent, so it had done nothing to save him from the damage. Fortunately, he was tough and he didn't think anything was broken, yet.

Then the hollow crashed into the kitchen behind him and Grimmjow found himself in a bad spot. He cursed and tried frantically to form a cero, but the pathetic thing in his hand wouldn't have killed a newborn cub. He tried to dodge the huge hand reaching for him but there was just no room and the hollow gripped him, pulling him out of the wreckage like a toy.

"_Having problems, hey?"_ The hollow chuckled and Grimmjow gasped as the hand tightened around him. He could feel his bones creaking under the strain. _"Dunno what you are, but I'm gonna make you hurt for what you did. Then I'm gonna eat ya."_

"Fuck… you… ah!" He gasped again as the hand tightened and black dots began to swim over his vision. He could feel the cubs fluttering frantically, terrified as they sensed the fading pulse of his life force. Grimmjow closed his eyes and devoted the last of his power to them, trying to protect and comfort those little lives. _Sorry kids. Your sire's a fucking moron._ He groaned softly as he heard and felt something break, a wet cracking sound and a burning pain. _And your dam isn't much better. Sorry…_

He was shocked when the hollow suddenly howled and dropped him. No, it didn't drop him, its' arm was sheared off at the shoulder. Fortunately, that made the grip relax and Grimmjow coughed for a moment, crawling free and trying to assess his injuries. The cubs were fine – he'd managed to protect them, and his upper body had been squeezed more than his lower – but frightened. One of them was even trying to lend him power, which was sweet but futile. Grimmjow gently pushed her back – that was the spark he was pretty sure was female – and tried to push himself up. Something grated in his side and he grimaced as he realized he definitely had broken ribs. Several broken ribs, from the feeling.

Stumbling out of the rubble, he got to see Ichigo in full shinigami mode beating the hell out of the hollow. He was clearly extremely pissed off, and Grimmjow wondered how he'd known to come. Either Yuzu had found him, or maybe his hollow had sensed the trouble and alerted him. A final slash split the hollow's mask, and then something unexpected happened.

Grimmjow had never seen the Gates of Hell before. Despite being an arrancar and knowing quite a bit about the afterlife, he'd been unaware that Hell was a real place. He became very aware, though, when the gates opened to swallow the unfortunate soul. Grimmjow stood paralyzed, watching as the gates swung open and the chains looped around the hollow, dragging it inside. A sword impaled it before the gates swung shut with an echoing boom. The red light from within cut off, just before the gates vanished, and he could not have been more grateful.

"Grimmjow!" The Espada blinked, coming back to himself as Ichigo ran up to him. The shinigami gripped his arm and he winced at the pain. "Are you okay?"

"Not really, no." He admitted, putting a hand on the broken wall to stay upright. Now that the danger was past, his ribs were screaming at him. Grimmjow blinked as Ichigo put an arm around his shoulders.

"Let me carry you, I can get us to Urahara faster." Ichigo said, clearly deeply concerned about his lover and offspring. Grimmjow scowled. He hated feeling helpless, but the truth was that he wasn't going to be able to move quickly right now. And the sooner they both got out of sight, the better.

"Fine." He said shortly and the shinigami picked him up, struggling a little with the weight. It didn't help that the cubs were adding to it. "By the way, tell your hollow he's a total cocksucker. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have needed any help!" He was pissed as hell about that. Ichigo made a choking sound and Grimmjow glanced at his face.

"I was just thanking him for letting me know you were in trouble. What did he do?" Ichigo asked calmly, but with a glint that signified future mayhem in his eyes. Grimmjow gave a brief rundown of the fight, and what had happened to make it go bad, and Ichigo growled. "Damn him. He needs to take that collar off you. Urahara can easily make something to suppress your reiatsu, and if Soul Society finds out about this I want you to be able to run!" He said fiercely and Grimmjow blinked. Running really hadn't occurred to him, but Ichigo had a point. If he had his full powers he could open a garganta and make a break for Hueco Mundo, if necessary.

"Yeah… agh!" Grimmjow grunted as Ichigo set him on his feet. They were at Kisuke's, and the teen couldn't carry him and open the door at the same time. An arm around his side, Grimmjow followed him inside, wincing a little at the pain. He was used to it but that didn't make it pleasant.

"Ichigo! I was just about to call you. Unohana has – oh my." Kisuke stopped talking as he took in Grimmjow's battered appearance. It made the arrancar wonder how bad he looked. Pretty bad, from the dismayed look on the shopkeeper's face. "What happened? Ichigo, go back to your body, we'll take care of this." He told the teen who nodded gratefully and took off. Grimmjow winced a little at the reminder. Anyone who could sense spiritual pressure would have sensed that fight.

Putting that out of mind, he let Urahara help him into the basement. A woman he didn't know was there, a shinigami from the feel of her. This had to be Unohana. Grimmjow eyed her warily, but accepted it as she helped Kisuke begin healing him.

"The ribs are the major problem, but you're severely bruised almost everywhere, Grimmjow-kun. What happened?" Urahara asked as Unohana paused, discovering the cubs. They could tell she was helping to heal him and Grimmjow could feel their gratefulness. The strongest spark, in particular, was reaching out to her. Grimmjow sighed.

"A fucking hollow tried to eat Yuzu. I wasn't going to let it have the little woman, so I went after it. But Ichigo's stupid hollow drained me at the worst time and I got fucked up. Uh… yeah… by the way. Hell is a real place?" Grimmjow said, more than a touch worriedly. He was pretty sure he knew what that gate had been. Kisuke looked at him, surprised, and nodded. "Shit. Uh, do all hollows go there?"

"Oh no. When hollows die on the blade of a shinigami, all their sins after death are purified. Of course, any sins they committed in life remain and can condemn them to Hell." Urahara explained, and Grimmjow relaxed slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, that hollow went to Hell. It was the scariest thing I ever saw, well except for Yammy naked in the showers." He said and heard a small snort from the shinigami woman. Kisuke smiled as he rested a hand on Grimmjow's belly. "Are the cubs okay?" He asked, concerned, and the shopkeeper nodded.

"They're doing much better than you are. You'll need to rest for at least a week to fully recover." He warned and Grimmjow nodded. He'd expected it to be longer. Then he glanced at the woman and she took the hint, smiling before speaking.

"I'm Unohana Retsu, Grimmjow-kun. Renji and Rukia told me about your situation, so I had to come see for myself." She said and Grimmjow nodded, unsurprised. "I hope you don't mind."

"Right now, I'm grateful. But I will protect my cubs with my life, and so will Ichigo." He said firmly and she nodded.

"I might not have believed that until I felt them, but now it's easy to understand." She gently ran a hand over his belly, delicately infusing him with healing. Grimmjow noticed that while Kisuke was very good, she was even better at that sort of thing. "Kisuke has told me a great deal about your situation, but I do have a few questions."

"Go for it." Grimmjow said, resigned. Her questions were mostly related to hollow reproduction, and the likelihood that the remaining arrancar would be breeding. "You know, if you just left them alone, the arrancar would probably stay in Hueco Mundo." Grimmjow said bluntly. "Aizen's dead and until he came we didn't give a shit about shinigami. And hollows like me have been breeding for thousands of years and you guys never noticed." That was nothing but the truth. Protecting the cubs from other hollows might be difficult, but there was always someone ready to try. And a few cubs from insects and lizards did survive, despite all the odds against them. Unohana nodded.

"Yes, several of us have thought that. However, with Hueco Mundo in such disarray, there has been talk that we should seize control of it and eliminate all of the arrancar." She said, making Grimmjow grimace. No wonder Harribel had been worried about him, she was probably trying to gather up all the survivors under her banner. Another Espada would have been helpful for her, even a vicious bastard like him. Or maybe, especially a vicious bastard like him. "I'm afraid this news about hollow reproduction may not help." She said solemnly and Grimmjow eyed her distrustfully for a moment.

"So do you think we should all be killed?" He asked and she gave him a small smile.

"I'm honestly not sure. But I can see these children are not monsters." She said, gently touching his belly again. Grimmjow could tell she was as enchanted as everyone. The cubs really were damned adorable.

"Tell me about it. The girl was trying to give me power, when I got hurt." Grimmjow said, looking at his belly ruefully. "She's probably gonna be a healer when she grows up. I hope she can fight, too." All this sweetness was nice, but he wanted his children to be capable on the battlefield. Of course, it was way too soon to worry about that. Unohana laughed softly and when Grimmjow looked up, he saw Kisuke was grinning.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem Grimmjow-kun." The shopkeeper said, clearly amused, and Grimmjow felt like he was missing something. Then the door to the training area opened and Ichigo ran in.

"I got back as fast as I could. Is he okay? Are the babies okay?" The teen asked anxiously then abruptly stopped as he saw the shinigami. "Unohana!" He paused, glancing at Kisuke who nodded to him reassuringly.

"They're all fine, Kurosaki-kun." The shopkeeper assured him, and Ichigo looked relieved before gently hugging Grimmjow. "Uh, however he does have broken ribs." He said as the arrancar growled softly. Ichigo was going to let go, but Grimmjow put an arm around him, holding him gently in place.

"Stay. Just be careful." He said firmly and Ichigo smiled, nestling up to him and resting a hand on his belly. The Espada rested his head on the teen's shoulder, heaving out a small sigh. After the excitement of the day, just being close to Kurosaki was nice.

"We've set his ribs and put them on the path to mending and he should be well in perhaps a week." Unohana told him with a smile. "Now, would you permit me to run some additional tests?" She asked them both and received a pair of nods. Grimmjow just stayed cuddled to his mate, trying to ignore the kido scanning him. The cubs were complaining about the tickling again, and he winced as one of them wiggled. They would be doing handstands in there soon.

It took a while, but they were finally cleared to go home. Ichigo helped him back, and when they got home he got a big, tearful thank you from Yuzu. After a few very gentle hugs, Grimmjow was able to retire to his nest to get some well deserved sleep.

It had been a very tiring day.

* * *

A few days later.

Ichigo looked up from his computer with a frown. He was checking his e-mail and writing to a few friends and his aunt. Grimmjow was on the bed, trying to read a book, but he kept growling and squirming around. It was starting to get distracting.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, concerned. The ribs were healing perfectly and Unohana's tests had shown that the babies were all well and perfectly formed. She was able to do even more detailed exams than Kisuke, and she was sure the cubs would be almost entirely shinigami, but with hollow powers. They really would be born Visored, and she and Kisuke were both united in their desire to know if the offspring of two arrancar would be the same. But Unohana had pointed out that it would be a very useful thing to know for another reason… if the arrancar were essential a one generation event, and the next generation would be Visored, it might help to convince Soul Society that they were safe to leave alone.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but these little bastards are having a battle for dominance in my belly." Grimmjow growled and Ichigo blinked. "It's not a cage fight, you brats!" He snarled at his offspring and Ichigo couldn't help but laugh.

"Awesome! Who's coming out on top?" He asked, grinning. Grimmjow rolled his eyes.

"Oh, the girl is on top, she sorted that out yesterday. Now it's the two boys duking it out to see who's in second place. The girl's trying to stay out of it but whenever they hit her she beats on them both. And whenever they miss they hit me!" Grimmjow rubbed his belly with a grimace. "Shit cubs, I know the quarters are tight but can't you get along?" Ichigo laughed again and the arrancar squirmed again with a groan. "Ow. Um, Kurosaki, I meant to ask." Ichigo gave him a curious look. Grimmjow sounded very wary and uncertain, not his usual tone at all. "Could I have Pantera back? I wouldn't have had any trouble against that hollow if he'd been at my side."

"Your zanpakuto?" Ichigo frowned. The fact that Grimmjow didn't have his blade had entirely slipped his mind. "What did you do with it?" He queried his hollow.

_Wouldn't you like to know?_ The hollow taunted him and Ichigo grimaced. He should have known he wouldn't make this easy. Then Zangetsu spoke and shocked them both.

_He hid it under your bed._ The zanpakuto said calmly and his hollow squawked with outrage as Ichigo's eyes went wide.

"Are you serious?!" He said and Grimmjow made a confused sound as he dove off his chair and shoved an arm under the bed, feeling around. "Oh my god, he did!" He drew the sword out from under the bed as the arrancar peeked over the edge, wondering what he was doing. Bright blue eyes went wide as he saw the familiar, blue wrapped hilt.

"Pantera!" The Espada grabbed the blade out of his hands so fast, Ichigo barely had time to let go of it. "He was here all along? Why couldn't I sense him? Fucking bastard!" Grimmjow said, incensed at Ichigo's inner hollow. "Hiding it under both our noses… I'm surprised he told you." He said, rubbing his cheek along the hilt of the blade in a very catlike gesture. Ichigo snorted a laugh.

"He didn't. Zangetsu did. He must have sensed it." He wasn't too surprised by that. His zanpakuto was much better at sensing reiatsu than he was, and had given him important head's up several times. Then he noticed that Grimmjow's eyes were distant and it made him wonder. "Grimmjow? Are you communing with your zanpakuto?" If so, that was interesting. He'd thought that arrancar's zanpakuto were quite different from shinigami's. Instead of being a separate entity, they were supposed to be half the hollow's power. Ichigo had thought that would mean they couldn't talk to them like a normal zanpakuto, but perhaps he was wrong about that.

"Yeah." The Espada's voice was warm and happy as he curled around his sword. Ichigo smiled at the sight he presented, the fearsome arrancar cuddling up to his sword like it was a stuffed toy. "He's pretty pissed, he says he's been yelling at me for weeks. Heh. He sure is glad to meet the cubs though. Oh, really?" Grimmjow fell silent for a long moment and Ichigo wished he could listen in on the conversation. He bet it was fascinating. Then Grimmjow blinked and really looked at him, his blue eyes amused and just a touch sad. "He says it's good to have me back the way I should be. Apparently, he could remember." His hands gently stroked the sheathed blade as Ichigo blinked.

"But he never told you?" He questioned and Grimmjow nodded.

"He says it wouldn't have meant anything to me unless I remembered for myself. And he's right, I'd have told him to screw off if he'd tried to tell me about my past." Grimmjow sighed to himself and propped his sword in the crook of his elbow before reaching for his book again. "Let's see if he can distract the little warriors enough that I can read this."

"I sure hope so." Ichigo said, amused, and just watched for a few minutes as the arrancar settled in. It seemed his zanpakuto was helping with the children, and soon Grimmjow was engrossed in his book. Smiling to himself, he turned back to his e-mail.

It was good to see the Espada happy again.


	10. More Sexing Up

Author's note: Next chapter I'm going to skip ahead to the birth! I'm so excited.

"Finally." Ichigo sighed as he looked at the new collar in his hands.

This one was a beautiful green shade, meant to match the markings beside Grimmjow's eyes. And instead of the heart, which had been put on to deliberately humiliate the Espada, Kisuke had adorned it with a bright blue stone set in a silver circle. Ichigo thought the arrancar would tolerate it easily enough. He was going to be very happy to get his powers back.

_You're going to regret this._ His inner hollow commented and Ichigo rolled his eyes. _He's just trying to trick you so he can kill you._

"Shut up. Just because you would do it doesn't mean that's what Grimmjow's doing." He growled at the thing, trying to hide his own nagging worry. He really didn't think Grimmjow was setting him up for anything. He and the Espada had gotten so much closer in these last few weeks, it was amazing. In addition to the feedings, they were actually making love, and Grimmjow had turned out to have an affectionate side that Ichigo would never have suspected. Still, they had been enemies for a very long time. It was hard to completely trust him.

_Whatever. Don't complain to me when he kicks you in the head._ Ichigo could feel the hollow losing interest and was rather relieved. He gave Kisuke a smile.

"Thank you for making this for us." He said. He really was very thankful for the shopkeeper's support in all this. Things could have been very, very hard if he'd decided not to help them. Urahara waved it away with a smile.

"It was nothing. And Ichigo, don't listen to your hollow. Grimmjow's affection for you is genuine, I'm certain of it." He said and Ichigo blinked, his jaw dropping a little. But then, Kisuke had been able to hear his half of the conversation. It probably hadn't been that hard to figure out.

"Oh. Ah, thank you, I definitely won't." Ichigo blushed lightly, but that endorsement did make him feel better. At least one other person thought that Grimmjow really had feelings for him. But then, if there was one thing the Espada of Destruction was bad at, it was faking his reactions. He just wasn't a good actor. "I need to get this home. See you later Kisuke!"

"Later Ichigo!" Urahara waved his fan in goodbye, and Ichigo began jogging home. Summer vacation was almost over. The babies would be born sometime during the school year, which meant he would probably get a frantic call someday to come home for a 'medical emergency.' He was feeling a mixture of apprehension and anticipation at the thought. He would finally get to know what his children would look like.

When he got home, he found Grimmjow deeply asleep in his cozy nest of blankets and pillows. He didn't wake up even when Ichigo opened the door and let the light in, and the teen just watched him for a moment, smiling. The loose but tailored clothing actually looked good on him, and today Grimmjow was wearing dark blue pants and a dark green t-shirt with a red, smirking smiley-face.

"Hey, wake up." He said, kneeling down to gently poke the cocooned arrancar. Grimmjow muttered sleepily, squirming away. "I have a present for you." He said encouragingly as the Espada opened his eyes just a crack.

"I don't want any candy little woman." He said groggily and Ichigo just laughed. Yuzu had tried to stuff him full of candy after her rescue. Then Grimmjow blinked, really waking up. "Ichigo?" He yawned, stretching slightly. "What is it?" He asked, blinking sleepily. Ichigo smiled as he reached out to gently hook a finger under his collar. He knew that as long as he didn't tug on it, there would be no pain. Grimmjow just rested his chin on his hand, giving the teen a questioning look.

"Take it off." He said firmly to his hollow and the arrancar's eyes widened. There was a grumbling sound from inside his mind and the collar didn't come off, it simply vanished in a puff of blue power. Grimmjow's own power, returning to him. The Espada looked at him in disbelief for a moment before rubbing his throat. "Kisuke made this to replace it." He offered Grimmjow the new collar, and the arrancar took it, examining it warily. "It'll hide your reiatsu the same way my collar does."

"Ah." Grimmjow nodded and quickly snapped the new collar into place. "I'm better at hiding my reiatsu than you are, but it'll still be good to have. How'd you convince your hollow to take it off?" He asked and Ichigo grimaced.

"I nagged him a lot." He said and Grimmjow blinked before he laughed. "And the possibility of you having to run to Hueco Mundo helped." He thought that had been the deciding factor. His hollow really did want to see the Espada's offspring, and with Grimmjow able to escape that was far more likely to happen.

"Well, I'm grateful." Grimmjow said, then gave him a mischievous smile. Ichigo wasn't really surprised when a hand caught him by the collar of his shirt and he was pulled into a deep and searching kiss. "Very, very grateful." The Espada purred and Ichigo swallowed as his libido gave him a kick in the crotch.

"How grateful?" He asked teasingly and Grimmjow grinned before kissing him again. Ichigo gripped his shoulders, tugging him out of the closet. It was much too small in there to do anything interesting. "Mmm… remember that position I told you about?" He asked with a grin. The internet had all kinds of interesting information, and it had informed him about lube and all kinds of sexual variations, most of which Grimmjow had already known about but not had any names for. And a few of them had been new to them both. "The one where we're both standing up?" He added as Grimmjow frowned and then the arrancar grinned.

"Two Pillars." He purred and Ichigo nodded. The guide he'd found had had illustrations, which was very helpful. "Sounds great, you got that cream you ordered?"

"Yes." Ordering that cream had been a bit of an ordeal, since it was adults only and he was technically not. He'd finally got Kisuke to order it for him, with a special fee attached. Ichigo was looking forward to seeing if it was really worth it. "Let's see if it does what it says on the box." He said teasingly before kissing Grimmjow again.

There was a lot of heavy petting, and clothes were dropped carelessly on the floor before he grabbed the cream off the bedstand. It was in a small tube and he used it to coat his hands as Grimmjow rested his arms against the wall, facing away from him. Ichigo paused for a moment to just admire the arrancar. The lines of his body were flawless and even the baby belly seemed right, budding with new life.

Ichigo slid his hands over warm skin, massaging Grimmjow's back for a moment and making the Espada growl a bit in pleasure. Then he kissed the warm skin, fragrant from the scented lotion, and began to gently open the arrancar. Grimmjow's body was warm and accepting, and the Espada moved his legs apart a bit more, letting him dip his fingers in further. Ichigo reached around him to slowly stroke his member, smiling as he found that Grimmjow was already fully aroused. The arrancar whimpered softly as his fingers teased that hot, straining flesh. Then he found that special spot inside him and Grimmjow tensed, letting out that feral growl that never failed to excite the teen.

Swallowing hard at the sight of his mate, Ichigo used a bit more of the cream to coat himself before tossing the bottle away. Then he positioned himself, taking the arrancar with a single, smooth thrust. There was a yowl from his partner and Ichigo smiled at the sound. It wasn't pain, quite the opposite. He didn't really withdraw, just slowly rubbing his length against Grimmjow's insides and watching as the arrancar growled in animal passion.

He was figuring out what turned his partner on, and he used that knowledge now, keeping the pace slow but hitting his prostate dead on with every thrust. He kissed the arrancar's shoulder, licking away beads of sweat from pale skin as his hand tortured Grimmjow, sliding up and down his length in the same rhythm as their bodies. He used his other hand to tweak the Grimmjow's nipples, getting a sound of ecstasy from the arrancar. The Espada was panting now, his body lightly sheened with sweat and his legs trembling with the effort of staying upright.

Ichigo couldn't have said how long he kept his mate like that, suspended in pleasure, but it was a long time. His blue eyes were hazed with lust and nearly senseless as he glanced over his shoulder, and Ichigo took the opportunity to claim his lips, sucking on Grimmjow's lower lip greedily. The Espada made a soft whining sound that hit him hard, and Ichigo found himself increasing his speed, despite himself.

"F-Fuck Ichigo, stop teasing me!" Grimmjow gasped out and Ichigo grinned, deliberately slowing the pace again. "Ah!" He writhed a bit and Ichigo laughed softly at the reactions, giving his erection a gentle squeeze then tormenting the tip with his thumb.

"You know you love it." He whispered in the arrancar's ear, getting a feral growl in return. It was nothing but the truth, though. Before they started having sex, he would never have believed that Grimmjow could enjoy giving up control so much. But he loved it when Ichigo took charge, and the teen vaguely wondered what he would think of bondage play. But for now, he just increased his pace, taking the arrancar quickly and strongly. Grimmjow arched back with every thrust, meeting him and deepening the penetration. Ichigo bit and sucked the arrancar's neck, raising red marks with abandon as he came close to finding his moment of pleasure.

"Shit!" Grimmjow suddenly cursed, and Ichigo felt his erection throb, coating his hand and splattering the wall with white fluid. His inner walls tightened and the teen gasped, then drove in even faster for a moment before finding his own release. The pleasure was blinding and he buried his face against Grimmjow's neck, stifling his scream as he came in a moment of bliss.

They stood together a moment, exhausted and sated, before Ichigo pulled out of the arrancar. Grimmjow whined a little at the empty feeling, then sighed in contentment before taking a few steps and flopping down onto the bed. Ichigo smiled at the sight of his naked lover, then glanced at the mess on the wall. That would need to be cleaned up, and sooner rather than later. Finding the box of tissues, he took care of the problem as Grimmjow watched, his eyes half-closed and sleepy.

_I will admit, that was better than a kick in the head._ His inner hollow admitted reluctantly and Ichigo shook his head, amused and annoyed. His hollow made everything difficult. _He'll change after he kits, just wait._

"Shut up." He told his inner hollow before joining Grimmjow on the bed. Or rather, trying to. The arrancar had taken up the whole thing, spreading himself out like a cat. "Hey, move over." He said, amused, and the Espada growled before reluctantly making room. "I thought you didn't like beds."

"I do when they have your scent on them." He answered and Ichigo smiled, feeling warmed by the response. He slipped in beside Grimmjow and rested a hand on his belly, offering a bit of gentle power to the little lives there. They devoured it greedily, which made him frown.

"Do you need to feed?" He asked softly and the arrancar shook his head, his blue eyes still hazy with the afterglow.

"Nah. I take some of your power when you fuck me, you know." He said, drawing a lazy circle on Ichigo's side with his fingers. The teen shivered a little at the contact. "It's not as much but I'll be good until morning." That was their pattern now. A feeding in the morning, and real sex in the evening. "The cubs are just growing. Although, if you can feed them like that, why can't you manage to feed me?" Grimmjow didn't sound resentful, just curious and Ichigo thought about it for a moment. It was a good question.

_Paternal resonance. You have an innate connection with the cubs that you do not have with Grimmjow._ Zangetsu supplied and Ichigo repeated to his partner. It made some sense, as much as any of this did. Then Ichigo suddenly grinned.

"What do the cubs think of our lovemaking?" It was an interesting question. They could sense everything their dam was feeling. Grimmjow chuckled, putting a hand to his belly.

"They're just happy when their dam's happy. At least, the girl is. The damn boys are still going at each other all the fucking time." He made a face and Ichigo laughed. "I think they're not gonna be the best of friends."

"Give them time. They might just be feeling a bit too crowded in there." Ichigo said, amused. Grimmjow sighed.

"Well, I'm not getting bigger to give them more room. I'm huge as it is." He squirmed again and Ichigo laughed before giving him a gentle peck on the cheek. The arrancar smiled, nuzzling him for a moment before yawning and closing his eyes. Ichigo watched him sleep for a moment before pulling a blanket over them both. It was summer, but the evening breezes could still be a bit chilly. Feeling happy and content, he rested his head on the pillow and went to sleep.

* * *

A few days later, in Ichigo's bedroom.

"You're sure about this?" Grimmjow opened a single eye at that voice. It was vaguely familiar, in a way that spelled no threat, but he honestly couldn't recall who it was. It was female, and that puzzled him. Could it be one of Ichigo's friends? But the only girls he'd met so far were Orihime and Tatsuki, and he was sure it wasn't either of them.

"Of course I'm sure!" A second voice huffed and Grimmjow frowned, opening both his eyes and reaching for Pantera. Again, the voice was female and familiar. But he simply couldn't place it. Who were these people?

_Master, you're being thick._ Grimmjow scowled at the amused tone in his zanpakuto's voice. _They're –_

"Girls, be quiet." That voice made him sit bolt upright, almost hitting his head on the cupboards above him. He'd heard it plenty of times, and the echoing quality was unmistakable. "You're going to wake him up."

_- Harribel's fraccion._ Pantera finished, unnecessarily, and Grimmjow frowned. What were they doing here? Then he scowled. He might as well just go find out.

"Too fucking late." He said as he shoved open the closet door. Four sets of surprised, feminine eyes turned to look at him. "What are you guys doing here? And if you bring the shinigami here I swear my ghost will haunt you." An empty threat, since he already technically was a ghost, but it got the point across. Harribel's three fraccion eyed him with reactions that ranged from alarm to amusement. He noticed they were still wearing Aizen's uniforms. But then, that was likely all the clothes they had.

"We were very careful coming here, I assure you." Harribel said as Grimmjow pulled himself out of his nest with a grunt. "Grimmjow, I never expected this of you." He scowled at the amusement in her voice.

"I sure didn't!" Apacci said, giving him a shit eating grin. Before he'd gotten his memories back, he'd have made her eat it. Even now he was tempted to do it. "So that hollow took away all your powers, eh? How's the kitty dealing with being defanged?" She taunted him and he just stared at her for a moment before giving her a spectacularly evil grin. It was an expression he'd perfected a long, long time ago when he was psyching out opponents in the cage fights.

"How would you like me to blow your head off?" He said pleasantly and Apacci just laughed. She didn't get it. "Just for your information, bitch, Ichigo got that hollow to take _his _collar off me two days ago. This little thing just hides my reiatsu." The look on her face was priceless. Sort of 'oh shit' combined with the urgent desire to be anywhere else. "Fortunately for you, I've got a better grip on my temper these days or I'd be fucking up your face right now."

"Apacci." Harribel quietly reprimanded her subordinate as the deer arrancar hastily backpedalled, making Mila Rose and Sung-Sun laugh. "I'm surprised that the shinigami would trust you with your full powers, Grimmjow." She said and he could tell she was skeptical of his claims. Grimmjow shrugged, just meeting thoughtful green eyes for a moment.

"I've remembered my past as a living man. It makes a difference." He said and could almost feel Harribel's puzzlement.

"You mean you didn't remember before?" She asked and Grimmjow blinked at her, surprised. "Ah… of course you didn't. You were an adjuchas when you were turned into an arrancar, weren't you?" She glanced at her fraccion. "Do any of you remember your living lives?" They all shook their heads and Harribel nodded to herself. "It must have been because I was Vasto Lorde. I think I remembered when I made the shift. I didn't realize remembering made a difference in personality."

"It does, probably because if you can't remember the shit you can't deal with it." Grimmjow said and smiled, a touch sadly. "I bet you anything Ulquiorra was such an emotionless cocksucker for the exact same reason I was a raging bastard." Now that he knew how the wounds festered, he was sure that Ulquiorra's rejection of emotion was rooted in his past sorrows. Not that it mattered now.

"Do you actually want to stay here, Grimmjow?" Harribel said seriously and he blinked at her. "We thought you were being held against your will. We're trying to gather up all the remaining arrancar to defend Hueco Mundo against the shinigami, and you would be useful, even with cubs. And the cubs need to be protected. Do you want to come to Hueco Mundo with us?"

"No." Grimmjow said instantly. "I appreciate the offer, and I admit it might make more sense than trying to hide out here. But I can't do that to Ichigo." He said firmly. He knew it would kill the shinigami if he just up and left him. "Besides, the cubs ain't gonna be arrancar. They'll be Visored, so they might not be able to feed like us." Although he wasn't certain about that. As far as he knew, none of the Visored had ever tried to eat like arrancar. They'd all started as shinigami, so the thought would probably horrify them. Harribel nodded.

"That would be a problem. Very well, I hope this works out for you." She said and he got the sense that she was smiling, behind her coat and mask. "It's a shame you didn't remember sooner."

"Yeah, I might have been interested. You were always hot as hell, but your personality was such a huge turn off." Mila commented and Grimmjow couldn't help but laugh. It was nothing but the truth.

"Yeah, I know. I should have had all the pootang I wanted, with these looks. Instead I can't remember the last time I got laid in Los Noches." He said with a smile and Apacci dared to snort.

"Pootang? Didn't that expression go out fifty years ago? How old – urk!" Mila took rather direct action against her companion as Sung-Sun sighed behind her sleeve.

"You are as stupid as you are ugly, Apacci." Sung-Sun said, making her companion squawk in outrage. Grimmjow was afraid a brawl might break out in Ichigo's room but Harribel summoned her erring fraccion with a single glance. Grimmjow could only admire it. Even at his best, he'd never been a leader like that. It was no wonder she was putting together the resistance in Hueco Mundo.

"Well, good luck Grimmjow. And if you ever need a haven, join us. We've set up a camp near Outpost 26." She said and Grimmjow nodded. That actually gave him a pretty good idea of where to find them. That outpost was far from anything, which was undoubtedly why they'd chosen it, but he'd been there before. "Now, we should be going."

"Goodbye and good luck, Harribel." He watched as she chivvied her fraccion out the window and sighed for a moment, wishing he could follow. Hueco Mundo was still more his home than the living world, in a lot of ways. But he wasn't going to hurt Ichigo like that.

Hopefully, they'd manage to keep everything quiet.


	11. Giving Birth is Hard To Do

Many weeks later.

Grimmjow was curled up in his nest when it started to happen.

It wasn't the first time he'd given birth, and while his panther form might have been quite different than his humanoid one he still recognized the tightening and the brief flash of pain. He also recognized the vague discomfort from the cubs. That discomfort would get worse, he knew. The cubs wanted to stay in their warm, squishy home forever, but that simply couldn't happen. They had to go, and it wouldn't be pleasant for them but he would comfort them through the process.

But he was torn on what to do. All his instincts screamed at him to remain hidden in his den and tend to the birth himself. His rational mind said that he needed Urahara and hopefully Unohana as well, with their skill and equipment. That meant he should leave the nest and go to the shop. But he absolutely did not want to leave his nest, did not want to go out into the world when he was this vulnerable.

"Grimmjow, can you stop making that sound?" Ichigo's voice came from his room, sounding irritated and Grimmjow realized he'd been making a high pitched whine of uncertainty.

"No!" He snapped, glad Ichigo was here. It was after school, thankfully. "I'm having fucking cubs in here – OW!" He hissed as a real contraction hit him. That _hurt._ There was a brief silence from the other side of the door and then it shot open.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo's eyes were wide as he dove into the nest, putting his arms around his mate. Grimmjow hissed again as his belly rippled very obviously. "Oh my god, you are! Grimmjow, what should I do?"

"Tch, you're asking me?" He muttered. Clearly Kurosaki was losing his mind, not an uncommon reaction for a first time father, he was pretty sure. "Call Kisuke. He'll tell you." He managed to say. Really, he had no idea other than that. "And get your dad." Isshin was a doctor, after all. They would still need Urahara but he was good too. Ichigo bolted out of the room, yelling for his father.

Soon Isshin was at the closet, gently checking him over. Grimmjow let him, although he had the feeling the process was only beginning. He was right about that.

"Your body seems to have formed a birth canal." Isshin was fascinated by the changes and Grimmjow glanced down, confirming it. His penis was still there, hanging limply but beneath it his sac was gone, replaced by a vagina-like opening. That was how his children would enter the world. It wasn't a pretty sight, but then, birth usually wasn't. "You're hardly dilated at all, yet." He murmured as he checked the organs in question. Grimmjow grunted.

"This is gonna take a while." He shifted uncomfortably. "Do I need to leave my nest?" He really didn't want to go. But Isshin nodded.

"You need to be at Kisuke's. We've set up full equipment for you there, and also a very nice nest." He said coaxingly and Grimmjow sighed. But his intellect and also his worries overruled his instinct, and he reluctantly let Ichigo's father help him out of the nest. Then Ichigo was there, putting an arm around him. That helped even more, as the familiar smell surrounded him.

"It's going to be fine. We'll take care of you." He said comfortingly and Grimmjow decided not to point out that he knew better. He'd watched his mother die giving birth to his sister. He knew about the horrible things that could go wrong. But he was an arrancar, an Espada, and he had all his powers back. Surely he would be fine. That was what he kept telling himself, at least.

They got him into the car, and the walls of the vehicle were comforting as he was spirited over to Kisuke's. The shopkeeper was ready when he arrived, Isshin had given him a call to warn him about the birth.

The shinigami had a lot of ideas about how he should give birth, but Grimmjow also had ideas, and he was pretty damned stubborn. He wasn't going to let a lot of stupid shinigami who'd never had a kid tell him what to do.

"This will work, I can tell." He said as he took a hands and knees position. "It feels right. And I looked it up online." He'd done his research with Ichigo's computer, concerned about his new bipedal anatomy. He had been relieved to find that the position he'd favoured as an adjuchas would work just fine in this body. "What?" He growled at a disbelieving Kisuke. "Go find me a bean bag chair or something. And some pillows. I feel too exposed." He wanted to build a pillow castle, if he could. Ichigo had an arm around his shoulders and just glowered at Urahara, who finally laughed.

"I can see this is going to be interesting!" It took a bit of searching but he managed to steal a bean bag chair from one of the kids. It took promises that he'd replace it if Grimmjow got 'stuff' on it, though.

"Tch, kids – OW!" That was a real contraction and Grimmjow gasped. He'd thought it was going to take a while but it seemed that his body had other ideas. But then, he wasn't a first timer and he'd been told it got faster. The cubs were freaking out and he reached for them, concentrating on soothing their fears. "It's okay cubs. It's okay. Your dam is fine and you'll be out of there soon." He murmured to them, although they couldn't understand. But they settled down a little anyway at his mental touch, and he gave them a warm feeling of love. Ichigo rested a hand on his belly and Grimmjow smiled as he felt the teen's power joining his, soothing the children as best he could.

Kisuke and Isshin tried to monitor and help the increasingly irritated arrancar. The monitoring equipment was okay, but the pep talks could go straight to Hell as far as he was concerned.

"Fucking shit on a stick!" He snarled as another contraction took him and his water suddenly broke, staining the ground. "Fuckfuckfuck…" He muttered as Isshin gave him a fake scowl.

"Are you going to be teaching all my grandchildren to swear?" He said with mock severity, clearly trying to get the Espada's mind off the pain. Grimmjow managed a credible grin before groaning as his belly tensed.

"Yeah, you're gonna have swearing toddlers old man, deal with it… yargh!" He spread his legs out further and rested his upper body on the beanbag chair, preparing for a tremendous push. Something tore a little and he yelped but didn't let up. This felt right, and his body would heal quickly enough. The cub coming out wasn't happy at all but he didn't sense any genuine distress. It was the girl, too, she was stronger than the boys.

"I can see the head. A few more like that and we'll see which one this is." Kisuke said, ready to catch the baby. Grimmjow grunted.

"It's the girl. Ow." He muttered. The next contraction was smaller, for some reason, but he followed the guidance of his body and didn't try to force it. She came out only a bit further. Then the next one was massive and he felt the cub's head leave his body. Encouraged, he pushed harder, and was rewarded as he felt the cub slide free. It was an oddly empty feeling, as the deep emotional connection he'd had with the cub became much less. But that was normal. He would still feel them, but it wouldn't be as intimate as it had been when they shared his body. He glanced back as she squalled, her little lungs working strongly as she drew her first breath. Then he grunted as a final contraction expelled the afterbirth. He did the obvious thing and incinerated the mess with a tiny cero.

The other cubs weren't inclined to quickly follow their sister, so he lay down a bit and watched as Kisuke cleaned off the baby and handled the cord. He was tempted to demand her immediately and give her a tongue bath, but the shinigami and new grandpa were clearly delighted, so Grimmjow decided to just rest. His cub was right beside him anyway, and he could feel that she was calming down and recognizing their powers as ones that had touched her. But then he felt her growing distress.

"Hey, hand the cub over. She wants her dam." Grimmjow demanded, sitting up. Ichigo still had his arms around his shoulders, watching his father and Kisuke do medical things, and he chimed up in agreement.

"We want to see her." He said and Grimmjow nodded. He was very curious to see his first humanoid cub. Isshin brought her over, beaming, and Grimmjow took her in his arms before just looking at her for a moment.

"Did your hollow do this on purpose?" He asked Ichigo who sighed a bit before reaching out to touch damp white curls.

"No. But he's disgustingly proud of himself at the moment." He said and Grimmjow looked at his cub again. She was white as freshly driven snow, and the eyes looking at him curiously were black and gold. It hurt a little, but he smiled as he saw what she'd gotten from him. There were black marks beside her eyes, just like his green ones, and they led to ears that were just like his in his released form. Black kitty ears with golden fur inside and when she yawned he saw she had come equipped with little fangs.

"Tiny kitten teeth." Grimmjow murmured, glad he had his hierro back. He was going to need it, to cope with that. "Masaki." She flicked her ears at the sound of his voice and closed her eyes in contentment as he held her close. "Do you want to hold her?" He asked Ichigo, wincing as contractions started again.

"Please." The teen said with a smile and carefully took the cub, supporting her head with his arm. Grimmjow felt no distress at all from her at the transfer. Isshin knelt down beside his son to offer the cub a finger, which she was more than happy to grip. He softly murmured her name to her and Grimmjow sat back on the beanbag chair, just waiting for his next cub to come.

The boys took their sweet time, and he was starting to get irritated when the contractions began again. Using the bean bag chair to prop up his chest, he went onto his hands and knees again. This really was a good position, for him anyway, and the first boy finally started coming. His water broke a second time, staining the floor again.

"Shit! Come on you little bastard." Grimmjow muttered as the contractions started to get very painful. But he was an old hand at dealing with pain and grunted as he felt the baby dropping further. "That's better." He snorted to himself as he felt the boys both freaking out. Despite how much they'd fought, they seemed very reluctant to be apart from each other. The girl leaving hadn't bothered them a bit, strangely. "It's okay cubs. You'll be back together soon." He murmured as a powerful contraction gripped him. "Ah!" He gave off a small whine of pain as the pressure built. This one was more painful than the first, for some reason. "Fuck." Lips pulled off white teeth as he snarled, hands flexing against the floor.

"Are you okay Grimm?" Ichigo asked worriedly and Grimmjow grunted. He was pushing, but not making much progress.

"No. This ain't right." He managed to say. Something was off, he could feel it. Isshin knelt behind him, taking a careful look.

"I can see the head, but I think the shoulders may be stuck." He said quietly. "I can manipulate –" That was as far as he got before a powerful contraction rocked the arrancar. Operating purely on instinct, he flexed his legs tightly to his abdomen. That seemed to rock something loose and he felt the baby slide out. "Or you can do that. Well done!" Isshin sounded relieved and Grimmjow wondered how serious stuck shoulders was for a humanoid infant. Could the cub have died? "Just a few more." He encouraged the arrancar and he nodded, struggling to bring his baby into the world.

It took only a few more contractions to bring the infant out, but instead of the afterbirth following, Grimmjow gasped as he felt the other child drop. He'd been expecting separate afterbirths for every child, which was what had happened the first time. Why were these two different?

"Shit, they were sharing a bag? No wonder they beat each other – ow!" Grimmjow whimpered softly as his abused body went into heavy labor. "For fuck's sake." He muttered through gritted teeth. At least the birth would be quick, even if it hurt like hell. He heard a loud wail from the boy, but couldn't spare any attention for his second born offspring. The third was coming out fast.

"Does that mean they're identical twins?" Ichigo asked, awed, and Grimmjow blinked.

"They're not." He said with absolute certainty. Ichigo looked a little disappointed at that response and Grimmjow waited until the next contraction was over before trying to talk. "Identical twins are really fucking rare for hollows – ah!" He grunted as his body decided to push, hard. "Ugh… and they don't feel the same." If they had been identical, he'd have expected them to feel the same in the womb, and they definitely hadn't. Grimmjow had been able to tell one boy from the other easily, although the girl had been more of a standout. "Don't know why they're coming together." That was strange, but he wasn't going to question it too much. He didn't have time anyway.

The Espada rested his forehead on the beanbag chair, beads of sweat staining the leather surface. This was exhausting, more tiring than the birth he'd had as an adjuchas. His pale blue hair was damp from his exertions and he still wasn't done. Growling, Grimmjow gathered himself to bring his last child into the world.

"At least there isn't six this time." He muttered and saw Ichigo wince at the thought. "I wonder if this body could even handle six. How would they fit?" He'd gotten huge from just three. Maybe his arrancar body had limits on how many cubs it could take. Ichigo's arms were around him again and Grimmjow leaned against him wearily, taking in his scent.

"Humans can sometimes have that many, but it's very rare and dangerous." Ichigo told him and Grimmjow gasped as he felt his last cub crowning.

"Just a bit more Grimmjow-kun. And this one has your hair." Kisuke encouraged him and that made him grin. At least they all wouldn't look like that damned hollow. Cheered by the thought, he gave it everything he had, snarling as he tore a bit more. But the baby was strong and took the pressure easily, slipping out of him with an offended scream. Isshin caught the baby and Grimmjow just rested as they dealt with everything. Having attendants had some nice perks. As an adjuchas, he'd bitten through the cords and eaten the placenta himself. The second afterbirth came and he tidied it with another cero. He really had no desire to eat it, not anymore. He flipped over onto his back and winced. His legs were a mess, covered in sticky and unmentionable fluids. Then Ichigo was wiping him down with a towel and Grimmjow smiled at him.

"Thanks." That really did make him feel better. His whole body ached like he'd been used as a punching bag, but now he'd at least be a bit less sticky. The teen smiled at him, his brown eyes warm, then looked up as Isshin and Kisuke brought them the two boys. Grimmjow held out his arms and took the first boy while Ichigo took the second. There was a long paused as the young parents examined their offspring. "Shit, Ichigo, our kid got hit by the ugly stick, hard."

"Grimmjow!" Ichigo yelped and slapped him upside the head, hard. Grimmjow winced.

"Hey, new mother here." He complained as he cuddled his boy a bit closer. "And I still love him even if he's ugly – OW!" That was Isshin giving him a slap.

"Grimmjow, your child is not ugly. He's just…" The new grandfather searched for a suitable word. "Unusual." He finished and Grimmjow sighed.

"Yeah, that's the diplomatic way to put it." He said, then smiled as he looked down at the cub in his arms. His second baby had pure white skin, coupled with Ichigo's orange hair. That was odd right there, but he also had red marks by his eyes and little horn buds in his hair. Grimmjow was sure that someday, those would be wickedly sharp weapons. His eyes didn't help a bit. One was blue and the other was brown, a fascinating oddity. "This poor kid better learn to fight, he's gonna need it." He added before exchanging babies with Ichigo. "And the only normal one is the one that looks like me!" He said with perverse pride and Ichigo snorted.

"Don't let it go to your head." He said teasingly as Grimmjow grinned. The little baby in his arms had peach colored skin, soft blue hair and green eye markings. His ears were human, but Grimmjow could feel something against his arm and a quick check showed that he had a tail. It was long and covered in bone, the first really hollow thing about the cubs. When he opened his eyes, they were a warm and familiar brown. "And he has my eyes." Kurosaki said softly and Grimmjow nodded, gently petting his cubs hair. There was a forlorn cry from the girl. She was already getting some attention from Isshin and Kisuke, but she wanted her parents.

"Bring her over here." Grimmjow said. As the first out, she'd probably be the first to get hungry. His body was already reacting to the cubs and he could feel the power beneath his skin, ready to enter the waiting children. Then he glanced down at himself with a frown. "Two nipples? This sucks." He'd had a lot more than that as an adjuchas. "Oh well." The cubs would just have to be patient with him. Kurosaki watched wide-eyed as he traded the boy for the girl and brought her to his chest.

"You're going to breast feed? …Oh." Grimmjow chuckled as the teen winced. Sharp little teeth were worrying his skin, but they couldn't begin to penetrate his hierro. They did stimulate his body to produce 'milk', though. It was nothing but pure power, fed from him to the cubs, and Grimmjow winced a little at the drain.

"You could do this too, if you ever learned to feed me without blowing me up, Kurosaki." Grimmjow said with a grin as his child settled in to suckle in earnest. "I admit, it's easier for me." He added as the teen looked a bit guilty. "This is instinctive." His body was just doing what came naturally.

"Will they accept power from anyone?" Kisuke asked, very interested and Grimmjow nodded.

"Hollow cubs ain't picky. They'll take whatever you have to give them." He said, looking at the boys. "You okay with the names?" He asked and Ichigo nodded. "Then this little guy is Kai." He smiled, looking at the white and orange baby in Isshin's arms. "And that one is Ryuu." He nodded towards his blue son.

"Ryuu, that means dragon. I'm sure he'll live up to it!" Isshin said cheerfully, smiling down at his grandson. The little Grimmjow look-alike was more than content to stay with Ichigo. Grimmjow smiled, a touch sadly.

"I'm sure he will." What he hadn't told any of them was the fact that that had been his name as a living man. But that man was dead and no longer using it, so it seemed fitting to pass the name along. "He'll have to look out for his brother. I bet they'll have a 'no one beats up my brother but me' thing going." He said with a laugh.

"Knowing you, they probably will." Ichigo said fondly, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek. Masaki mewed a bit in protest as she got slightly squeezed. "I can't wait to show Yuzu and Karin." Grimmjow grinned at the thought then blinked as Isshin went into a small panic.

"My daughter's! I forgot to pick them up from softball practice!" Isshin quickly gave Kisuke his son and ran out of the room, heading for the phone. Ichigo chuckled and Grimmjow smiled. He was sure the girls had already walked home and they'd probably figured out why as soon as they realized Grimmjow wasn't there.

Showing the girls his offspring was going to be fun.

* * *

Ichigo glanced at his closet with a small smile.

Since the birth, things actually hadn't changed much. He'd anticipated diaper changing and midnight feedings, but half-hollow children had some wonderful positive sides. They were eating nothing but pure energy, and until Grimmjow switched them to solid foods there was no waste to eliminate. And as for midnight feedings, the Espada woke up at the slightest twinge from his children and satisfied their desires before they would do more than whimper. They hadn't woken up Ichigo once. From his perspective, this was effortless.

He wouldn't say that to Grimmjow, though. The Espada was getting a bit run down from the constant drain on his power and Ichigo's internal hollow had been concerned enough to offer to transfer some energy to him the proper way. Grimmjow hadn't been thrilled to be touched by him again, but he'd allowed it for the sake of the cubs. So now he was getting fed as many as four times a day.

Ichigo blinked as the door to the closet opened just a bit. A little pink hand waved, and the opening widened until his son spilled out, crawling across the carpet.

"Aw." Ichigo smiled, going over to the little blue haired boy. "Ryuu, you're not supposed to do that." He gently chided the baby, picking him up and tickling him. In addition to being born with all their baby teeth, the little ones were moving around early. That was probably why they were draining Grimmjow so heavily. Ryuu giggled and grabbed his hand, making Ichigo smile again.

Then there was a squall from the closet and he heard Grimmjow grumble. Opening the door completely, he saw little Kai was crying for his brother and Masaki was sleeping through the whole thing, cuddled up to Grimmjow's chest. The half-asleep arrancar glanced at him then closed his eyes as Ichigo set Ryuu down beside Kai. Then he choked as Kai immediately grabbed a white, boney tail and gave a tremendous yank, making his brother howl.

"Kids!" He scolded them as Ryuu retaliated by yanking on orange curls. Masaki stirred and looked at her brothers as Grimmjow grumbled and reached down, easily separating them. They didn't settle down, though. Ryuu began crawling over Grimmjow's legs as Kai crawled over to Masaki, trying to interest her in playing. She was having none of it and there was a high likelihood that Kai would get a bite if he continued. Ichigo watched the baby play for a moment, smiling, then decided to rescue Grimmjow.

"Want me to take the boys?" He offered quietly and Grimmjow sighed. Ichigo knew that Grimmjow's instincts were telling him to keep the children with him, but his common sense was saying he needed some time to sleep peacefully. He'd already confided in Ichigo that it hadn't been like this as an adjuchas. He'd left his children alone most of the day and let them feed all night, when he was so exhausted nothing could have woken him. Grimmjow had let his first litter settle their differences themselves, but humanoid cubs were a bit different. Without fur, the bite marks were very obvious and they were trying to keep it to a minimum.

"If you could." Grimmjow said reluctantly and Ichigo nodded, picking up Kai before retrieving Ryuu. "Take them to bother their aunts." He said sleepily and Ichigo laughed. Yuzu thought they were all the sweetest things, which Grimmjow said was nonsense since their offspring could never be sweet. Ichigo was inclined to agree with him.

Yuzu, Karin and Isshin were all downstairs and more than happy to entertain the children. Soon Ryuu and Kai were engaged in a game of 'Rugrat racing', as Karin had named it. Ichigo got to be Kai's handler, encouraging the little baby to beat Ryuu to the finish line. Unfortunately, he got distracted by a bird at the window and Ryuu beat him easily before trying to crawl under the sofa. Yuzu caught him with a laugh, tickling the baby until he squealed.

"They're growing so fast Ichi-nii. We should get them more toys." Karin said, offering Kai a stuffed cat. He was more than willing to cuddle with it, although he insisted on pulling the tail. Ichigo grinned.

"We should! And more blocks for Masaki." Masaki loved playing with blocks, and could manage to build towers. When she was a bit older, Ichigo thought a big box of Lego would be perfect for her. Isshin picked up Kai and cuddled him, making the boy giggle.

"Are they going to keep growing this face, Nii-san?" Yuzu asked, a touch concerned and Ichigo glanced at his father before shaking his head.

"We can't be sure, but Grimmjow doesn't think so. He says that hollow babies need to be mobile quickly in case the dam abandons them, so their growth might slow down soon." Ichigo rather hoped that it would. He was deeply enjoying playing with his children and didn't want it to end too soon.

He only hoped Soul Society didn't find out about them, or it might be cut short all too quickly.


	12. Playing Babies and Yet More Sexing Up

Grimmjow carefully chewed the piece of steak. The cubs watched him alertly and Masaki was excited enough to make an odd, but heartbreakingly familiar chirruping sound. Grimmjow knew that sound, intimately. It was the sound his first litter had used to encourage him to feed them. If he bent over far enough, he was sure the cubs would lick his mouth as well.

Finally feeling that the steak was a good consistency, he bent over. Masaki was the alpha baby, so she went first, and as their lips met he gently pushed the food into her mouth with his tongue. Then she chewed happily before swallowing, and Grimmjow went to the next piece of steak. This was exactly how he'd fed Yume, so long ago, although they hadn't had steak. They'd been lucky to have rat.

Pushing away that memory, he offered the next mouthful to Ryuu. Kai looked ready to try ramming his brother for that, but Grimmjow stopped him with a low growl. He was willing to tolerate the twins' sparring most of the time, but not during feedings. Kai could just be patient. Then the arrancar glanced up as the door opened.

"Hey Grimmjow, I hope you don't mind but Chad and Tatsuki wanted to… see…" Ichigo stopped and stared as he bent over Kai, giving him the third mouthful. "What are you doing?" Grimmjow looked up, surprised at the appalled tone.

"Weaning the cubs. They can't eat from me forever." And frankly, they couldn't be weaned too soon as far as he was concerned. The little leeches were draining him dry. Kisuke's and Urahara's tests seemed to indicate that human and shinigami foods would sustain them, so it was time for the transition to happen. And with Grimmjow's carnivorous nature, it only seemed wise to start them out with meat. Chad was looking at the process curiously but Tatsuki seemed almost as horrified as Ichigo. "Is there a problem?"

"But… I mean… you're chewing it up and… putting your lips on theirs?" Grimmjow blinked then scowled. Ichigo sounded like he didn't know where to start with how wrong it was, and that was starting to piss him off. He knew exactly what he was doing.

"Of course I am! This is how you wean babies. I've done it before, with my sister, remember? It wasn't like we had any fancy shit like a hand crank." He said irritably. That kind of garbage was for the rich. The babies were all chirruping now, impatient with the interruption and Grimmjow picked up another piece of meat and began chewing it for them.

"Hand… oh!" A lightbulb seemed to go off over the teen's head. "Of course, there were no food processors back then. Let me go get it." Ichigo darted out of the room and, grossed out or not, Tatsuki came forward to kneel beside him and look at the babies. Ryuu crawled to her in hope of food, but getting picked up and cuddled was nearly as good and a little bone tail waved happily. Grimmjow gave Masaki another mouthful and ignored Tatsuki's gagging sound. Chad knelt down beside him, watching the process.

"That's still done in Mexico. I saw a woman feeding her child like that when I was there." He mentioned to Tatsuki, who shook her head. Grimmjow honestly couldn't see what the problem was. Then Ichigo came back with something from the kitchen and plugged it in. Grimmjow looked at it curiously as he hit a button and a blade inside whirred around.

"This is a food processor…" Grimmjow watched intently as the teen showed him how it worked. It was like a hand crank but much, much better and it quickly reduced the food to a paste.

"Huh! That's faster." He was pleased with the speed, and the cubs were too, especially when Chad fetched some spoons so they could feed all three of them at once. Grimmjow sat back, just watching as his job got usurped by the three teenagers. Chad was feeding Kai, Tatsuki had Ryuu and Ichigo was smiling happily as he fed little Masaki the shredded meat. "Hollow cubs, they'll take food from anybody." He said teasingly and Ichigo flashed him a grin.

"Visored cubs too! You know, I don't think any of the Visored have had children. I wonder if they would be like this?" He asked, looking at the cub in his lap. Masaki looked back alertly, flicking her ears before chirruping again. All the teens looked over at that sound, to Grimmjow's amusement. "What was that noise, Masaki?" Ichigo asked the baby, astonished, and Grimmjow laughed.

"That's a feeding call. My last set of cubs did that. If you put your face near hers, she'd lick your lips too." He said and grinned at the confused look on the teen's face. "To encourage you to puke for her." He explained and had the pleasure of seeing them all slightly grossed out. Then Ryuu chirruped too, and they kept feeding the demanding cubs. When they were done, all the babies were full and sleepy.

"Let's try out the new playpen." Ichigo said and Grimmjow sighed to himself before nodding. Instincts wanted to keep the babies with him in the nest, curled up around his body. But this wasn't Hueco Mundo, and he didn't want to stay in the closet all the time when the children slept. He'd rather be out talking with Ichigo and the others, so the playpen was better. He could keep an eye on them there.

It was an absolutely huge playpen, big enough for three cubs and it had been set up in the den. Grimmjow watched as his offspring were set down in it, and immediately curled together in a pile of doozy cuteness. Everyone smiled, and Tatsuki leaned down to take a closer look.

"They are so sweet." She said, gently cooing at the babies. "I still have trouble believing you're a father, Ichigo." She said and Ichigo sighed. Grimmjow saw a flash of sadness in his face and looked away.

Sometimes, he felt a bit guilty about all of this. The arrancar knew it was irrational. None of it was his fault, he'd been minding his own business in Hueco Mundo when a strange hollow had shown up, practically begging to be attacked. Even now, Grimmjow thought he would have done the same thing. The hollow had felt weird, and he'd only realized he was in trouble when it was already too late. And what had come after, well, he hadn't had a choice in that at all. Grimmjow flinched and carefully suppressed the memories. They still haunted him, sometimes.

Still, he knew the cubs were a problem for Ichigo, and with his memories of his mortal life he knew why. Grimmjow had put off having a family because he was saving for his sister's dowry. What had Ichigo been saving for? Something, he was sure of it. Whatever it was would have to wait now. Grimmjow could do a lot to care for his children cheaply – disposable diapers weren't necessary, he damned well knew how to clean cloth ones – but they would still need food and clothes. And how were they going to afford schooling? That concerned Grimmjow, deeply. When he'd been alive, you had to pay a tutor for your children. Ichigo went to 'school', but how much did that cost?

"I have trouble believing it too, sometimes. But I love them with all my heart." He heard Ichigo say and Grimmjow stood still for a moment before smiling. That was good. Whatever problems they had, they could sort out as long as there was love. "And I don't regret having them for a moment." That warmed the arrancar and he walked up behind Ichigo, gently putting his arms around the teen's waist and nuzzling his cheek.

"I don't regret it either." Grimmjow said, smiling as he felt Ichigo relax into the embrace. "They're even cuter than my last litter and I sure am glad to have a family again." It was such a good feeling, especially now that he remembered why he craved it. Not just the cubs, but Karin, Yuzu and Isshin were all his family. And Ichigo of course.

It surprised him that so much good could come from something that had started so badly.

* * *

Ichigo smiled as he watched the triplets play in the sand box.

They'd finally gotten gigai's for the cubs, and they were using them now. The gigai's were hiding most of their non-human features, to the babies' faint distress. Ryuu in particular was missing his tail, and Kai's head butts were pretty funny without his budding horns. Masaki was trying to flick her ears, too, and whining every time she discovered she couldn't.

But those concerns quickly fell by the wayside as they discovered the joys of sand. Masaki in particular loved it and began thrashing in it, trying to build something. Her brothers just scooted along, Kai almost losing his diaper before Ichigo could tighten it. Now that they were eating solids, they needed diapers and Grimmjow thought disposables were great for travelling but an unnecessary expense the rest of the time.

Today was a holiday, so everyone except Grimmjow was spending time with the babies. Karin, Yuzu and Isshin had spent the morning feeding and cuddling them. Then the cubs had taken a noontime nap, and now his friends were coming over to see them.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo looked up with a smile as Uryu stepped into the backyard. He was a bit early, not at all surprising for the Quincy. "Oh my." Ichigo turned to look and saw that Kai had grabbed Ryuu's diaper and was pulling it off. Ryuu was helping the process by crawling away. Ichigo laughed, catching his blue son and getting the diaper back on.

"I should have put them in some more clothes." He said ruefully. "But it's such a nice day, and Grimmjow's still napping." He wasn't sure how the arrancar did it, but a single low growl from him would get the kids cooperating. When Ichigo tried to get clothes on them, they wanted to play and just generally made things very difficult.

"They're quite adorable like this, and I don't think anyone will mind if they lose a diaper." Uryu smiled as he knelt down and watched as the cubs discovered some of the toys. Masaki was managing to pile up a nice bit of sand, the first clumsy attempt at a sand sculpture.

"Cute little baby butts." Ichigo said with a grin. Grimmjow had made that remark just yesterday, after they'd given the babies a bath. "What do you think of the gigai's?" They definitely made the children look different.

"Well, Kai looks more normal." Ishida commented, catching his first born son and examining him. The dead white skin had been replaced with a normal peach, which went much better with his hair and mismatched eyes. "But I admit, I'm not very keen on Masaki's eyes." Ichigo glanced at his daughter. She was still an albino, but instead of black and gold eyes they were the pink usually associated with extreme albinism. "I'm afraid they remind me of a lab rat."

"Ouch!" Ichigo winced. He had to admit the comparison was apt, though. "Maybe we can let the real color show and say it's a medical condition." It would be weird, but the black and gold eyes might actually be a little more pleasant.

_I think so. She'll really look like me then!_ His hollow commented and Ichigo shook his head with a grimace. The hollow was right, without the markings on her face or the cat ears, she would look just like his inner hollow. As far as he was concerned, that was a mark against the idea. _Hmph._

"I wish I could spend more time with them." He said, hardly realizing he'd said it aloud until Ishida gave him a curious look.

"What do you mean?" He asked and Ichigo winced before rolling Kai onto his back and rubbing his belly. The baby squealed, easily attracting his brother. Masaki just kept working on her pile of sand, intent on creativity.

"Well… Grimmjow does everything for them. He feeds them, clothes them, washes them, you name it he does it. It's not that Grimmjow keeps me away." He said hastily as Ishida frowned. "It just doesn't seem like I get much time." After school, before or after his homework, Ichigo always spent time with the kids and Grimmjow didn't begrudge it at all. In fact, the Espada usually used the time to take a private nap or have a good bath, sans children. It still didn't seem like very much to Ichigo, though. Uryu smiled faintly.

"I believe that's the complaint of working parents everywhere." He said in a surprisingly gentle tone and Ichigo nodded, feeling slightly pained. His friend was probably right. "Just enjoy what you have. Speaking of Grimmjow, will he be coming out?" Ishida glanced up at the house and Ichigo nodded.

"He's napping but as soon as he realizes the children are outside, he'll be out." Grimmjow's protective instincts were mostly assuaged when his cubs were in the house, surrounded by family and friends. But outside made the arrancar very nervous and he would be coming out to hover over them as soon as he realized where Ichigo had taken them. Ichigo might have been worried about the over protectiveness, but his hollow assured him that it would change when the kids were older.

Then the rest of his friends were arriving, and Ichigo smiled as all the children got spoiled with attention. Grimmjow soon came outside, just as predicted, but he just leaned against the side of the house and watched with a small smile on his face. Orihime and Uryu started helping Masaki with her sand castle, to the little girl's pleasure. Ryuu and Kai tried to fight, but got neatly separated and distracted by Chad and Ichigo.

Then Ichigo looked up, surprised, as he heard a soft growl from Grimmjow. The arrancar had moved close to them and was looking elsewhere, his expression wary. Ichigo followed his gaze and blinked, then smiled as he saw the newest visitors.

"Rukia! Renji!" He stood up, holding a squirming Kai. "Have you come to see the babies?" He hoped so. Renji looked a bit terrified but Rukia seemed cheerful enough, so it couldn't be terrible news.

"We were hoping to, if that's okay?" She asked and Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow. The Espada frowned but grudgingly nodded, stepping back.

"Fine, but if you hurt them I'll kill you." He said with another growl. Renji frowned, but Rukia seemed to take it in stride. Maybe she'd seen overprotective mothers before. Although, Grimmjow still preferred to call himself the dam and Ichigo the sire.

It was the first time Renji and Rukia had seen the babies, and soon Rukia was cooing over them. Renji didn't want to get too close, to Ichigo's surprise.

"What's the matter? You don't like babies?" He asked the redhead and wasn't surprised when he shook his head.

"Honestly, no. They kind of scare me, they're so tiny and breakable." He said and Ichigo glanced at his children. Masaki had given up her sand castle and was crawling all over a smiling Rukia, while Ryuu was playing peek-a-boo with Orihime and Kai was giggling as he tried to crawl away from Chad, who was pretending to chase him. "Well, okay, maybe yours aren't that tiny. Aren't they kind of big for their age?" Ichigo had to smile at that. Renji clearly had no experience with children, or he would know they were more than kind of big… they were VERY big.

"They're growing very quickly. We think they'll be walking soon." He said with an odd combination of pleasure and sadness. He felt he was missing so much of them, just going to school and doing his homework. Renji blinked at that.

"That fast? They must get it from your scary Espada." He said and Ichigo scowled at him before glancing at Grimmjow. But, to his surprise, the arrancar was missing. "He went inside."

"Oh. That must mean it's about time for a snack." Ichigo said, looking at the babies. Sure enough, Grimmjow came out with some homemade baby food in a Tupperware container, and they all immediately began chirping. Ichigo grinned at the look on Renji's face. "That's their 'I'm hungry' calls. I think it beats crying any day." It was actually very adorable, and it certainly worked well on Grimmjow. "When they're done eating, they'll want a nap." It was getting to be about that time. Typically, the babies had several little cat naps during the day, and woke up once in the night for a feeding. Ichigo only knew the feedings were happening from the occasional half-empty bottle of baby food in the fridge. Grimmjow took care of everything so silently, he still wasn't waking up.

Sure enough, everyone had fun feeding the babies but then they started looking unhappy. Ichigo was quite sure he knew what they wanted, and Grimmjow confirmed it a moment later.

"They're tired now. Let's put 'em in the playpen." He said, picking up Ryuu and settling his son against his chest. Ichigo smiled as the baby promptly started to doze off, comfortable and safe. Ichigo picked up Kai and Rukia brought in Masaki.

"No one knows about us, right?" Ichigo asked Rukia quietly as the rest of his friends were leaving. She frowned slightly, glancing at Grimmjow, but he was washing a dirty diaper and completely ignoring them.

"That's part of why I came. No one's really guessed, but there was a report just a few days ago about odd, hollow like reiatsu." Her tone was grim and Ichigo winced. "I'm pretty sure they're detecting the babies." That made Ichigo blink.

"They're that strong already?" He questioned and Rukia glanced at the playpen before nodding. "Damn." In one way, that was a good thing. He wanted his children to be strong and able to take care of themselves. But mostly, it sucked. How were they going to hide the children? "We'll have to see if Urahara can come up with something, or maybe Grimmjow will have some ideas." From what he'd said, baby hollows were basically snacks to other hollows. Surely they had some way to hide themselves.

"I hope so." Was all Rukia said, and Ichigo knew she and Renji couldn't do much more for him. "We'll try to let you know if they're closing in." She assured him and Ichigo smiled before hugging the midget. "Hey!" She yelped, slapping his shoulder. "Put me down, idiot! You're not Kon." She growled and he let go, laughing.

"Yeah, I know. Kon's living in Isshin's room now, he can't handle all of this." Ichigo grinned a little as he thought about the first time Grimmjow had really met Kon. The arrancar had already been annoyed and when Kon bothered him, he'd mentioned that a mod soul would be like a little snack to him. That had cleared out the plushy very fast, since it hadn't been a joke. Ichigo might have felt worse about that, but he wouldn't have wanted Kon to be watching them having sex anyway. "You should go see him before you leave, I'm sure he'd be overjoyed." He said just to see Rukia fume.

"Idiot." She said affectionately before heading out to rejoin Renji.

"So what was that about?" Grimmjow asked as he hung up the square of cloth and started on another. Ichigo blinked as he realized the Espada had been deliberately giving them some privacy. Since he'd regained his human memories, Grimmjow could sometimes have a shocking amount of tact.

"It seems that someone in Soul Society is detecting our cubs' reiatsu." Ichigo said grimly and Grimmjow scowled, glancing at the babies in their pen. They were all asleep now, happy as bugs in a rug. "You said before that cubs are good at hiding themselves?" He said questioningly and Grimmjow grimaced, still working on the diaper.

"Yeah, well… you're forgetting something, Ichigo. Hueco Mundo's high reishi environment." He said and Ichigo frowned, thinking about it. "Karakura town is pretty high reishi for the living world, but it's still not Hueco Mundo. Having that much reishi in the air sort of has a muffling effect. When you try to sense things there, it's like there's white noise in the air all the time. And cubs are weak little things, so in Hueco Mundo that's more than enough. Here, it's different." Grimmjow sounded grim and Ichigo nodded.

"I see." He hadn't noticed it for himself, but that explained some of Uryu's complaints when they'd gone to Hueco Mundo. Although… "I wonder why that doesn't seem to apply in Soul Society?" He'd never heard the Quincy complaining about 'muffling' there, so he assumed it wasn't the same. Grimmjow just shrugged and Ichigo gathered up the damp diapers to take to the drier. They needed to be washed by hand – there were some things the washing machine just couldn't take – but the drier still did a fine job.

It was too late to go over to Urahara's, so Ichigo and Grimmjow just watched a bit of TV as they waited for everyone else to get home. It didn't take that long, and soon Yuzu was making supper with Grimmjow's help. Ichigo smiled as he watched them cooking. Grimmjow was very good at chopping things up, while Yuzu handled the actual cooking. And Grimmjow put together a very nice salad.

Interestingly, he and Grimmjow weren't the only ones eating in the living room, probably because the babies had woken up and were starting to play. Ichigo winced, then laughed as both the boys managed to annoy Masaki and got put in place with a few well-placed bites. The howls that followed made Grimmjow grumble and set aside his food for a moment, so he could go and lick the wounds. That quieted the boys and before long they were playing with Masaki again, but this time without pulling her hair.

"They are so cute Ichi-nii!" Yuzu watched the babies play with a wide smile, sitting on the couch beside him. It was big enough for three. "I know I probably shouldn't have a favorite, but I like Masaki the most." She confessed and Ichigo smiled.

"That's okay, I know what you mean." And he did know. All the three cubs were beginning to show real personality, not just eating and sleeping all the time. Masaki's personality was, perhaps, the most complicated. She was the quietest and kindest of the cubs. Ichigo had spotted her licking her brothers when they managed to hurt themselves, and he thought perhaps she had the same healing saliva as Grimmjow. Masaki also enjoyed playing by herself, with her blocks, although she enjoyed it when her brothers joined her… as long as they didn't ruin her blocks. If they did that, they would get a bite. She was the dominant cub and she didn't tolerate messing with her blocks, hair pulling or Kai's head butts. She was willing to play with her brothers, but they had to respect her. It was a bit funny, how the brothers who were so rough with each other immediately gentled their play with Masaki.

_That's my girl, showing those boys whose boss!_ Ichigo shook his head at his inner hollow, faintly exasperated by the gloating pride in his voice. He knew who the hollow liked best, although that was a dubious honor. _Oh, screw you King._

"Heh." Ichigo smiled as he turned his attentions to the boys. Kai was definitely the more troublesome of the two. He enjoyed fighting and would head butt or pull Ryuu's tail with absolutely no warning, just to get a rise out of his brother. He had a tremendous amount of energy and only slowed down when it was time to sleep or eat. Ichigo was sure they would both have a fun time chasing him down, when the babies started walking… or in Kai's case, running.

Ryuu was feisty too, but he didn't start things like his brother. No, Kai started things and then Ryuu dissolved in a fit of temper at his brother. The temper reminded Ichigo more than a bit of Grimmjow. Kai wasn't angry when he started his fights – he was looking for fun – but Ryuu was quite different. Ichigo frowned a little at the thought. Ryuu would have to learn to control his temper eventually, but hopefully Kai would also grow out of being such a little snot.

If he was going to be honest, Ichigo would have to admit that Masaki was his favorite too. She was just easier to handle than the boys. But he loved them all, and the rougher play the boys enjoyed was good too. Grimmjow certainly enjoyed it.

He and Grimmjow curled up together on the couch, letting his family have some time playing with the babies. Isshin and the girls absolutely adored them, and the cubs adored them right back. Ichigo blinked as Grimmjow nuzzled his cheek, and then blushed as the arrancar whispered in his ear.

"I'm remembering this thing we used to do… what was it called again? Oh yeah, sex. Do you think they'll keep the cubs busy long enough for us to do that again?" Grimmjow's voice was soft and full of intimate promises. Ichigo swallowed hard and nuzzled the Espada right back, whispering into his ear and enjoying the soft shiver from his mate.

"Yeah, I think so, if we keep it down." Ichigo honestly wasn't sure if his family realized that his relationship with Grimmjow had deepened into real affection. They all knew the children were basically products of rape, so he wouldn't be surprised if they thought Grimmjow would never touch him that way. No one seemed to notice or care when they slipped away.

Grimmjow was in a surprisingly aggressive mood, but then, it had been a while, not counting the feedings. Ichigo gasped as he found himself pinned to the bed, the arrancar pulling away his clothes to access the soft, warm skin beneath. He yanked open Grimmjow's vest, returning the attention. With the cubs gone, the arrancar had been able to pick out some clothing that really suited him, and he generally preferred to wear a vest or jacket and hakama. Must like his uniform with Aizen, but in different colors. Today his vest was dark green, and it slid easily off his shoulders as Ichigo dug his fingers into the warm skin, raising his head to catch a pert nipple in his mouth. He expertly teased the nub of flesh as Grimmjow groaned.

_What does he think he's doing?_ His inner hollow sounded suspicious and Ichigo ignored him, too caught up in the pleasure to care. Grimmjow had a hand in his pants, which were starting to get uncomfortably tight.

"I want to ride you like a horse." Grimmjow said, his voice warm and lustful. Brown eyes met bright blue and Ichigo felt a jolt of desire that went straight to his groin. Nimble fingers slid out of his pants, undoing the button and pulling down the zipper in a slow, sensuous movement. Ichigo helped get rid of the pants as his hollow suddenly yelped.

_Don't let him do that!_ Ichigo ignored that shrill voice as Grimmjow kissed him, their tongues meeting in an intimate dance. _You moron! Do you want to end up with more cubs?_ That made Ichigo's eyes go wide and he pulled back, getting a confused sound from his lover.

"Wait, what?" He said sharply. Neither of them were worried about Grimmjow getting pregnant again. Until the babies were a bit older, their existence was very effective birth control, and Grimmjow would know when his body was ready for that again. "Are you trying to tell me that _I_ could become pregnant?" He looked up at Grimmjow, who looked shocked at the very thought. Clearly, it hadn't occurred to him.

_I don't know but you never asked Kisuke, so who knows?_ Was all his hollow could add, and Ichigo wasn't sure whether to be thankful he'd thought of the problem or irritated that he'd interrupted what could have been an interesting experience. He was curious to know what it felt like, being the one penetrated.

"Damn. Sounds like I'm getting a riding tonight." Grimmjow didn't sound very upset, though, chuckling softly as he kissed the teen again. Ichigo melted into the second kiss and took the initiative, switching their positions and pushing Grimmjow down onto his back.

"Ride an arrancar, save a shinigami." Ichigo said in his ear, wondering if Grimmjow would get the joke. Apparently he did, because the arrancar gave a soft, rumbling chuckle.

"It'd take more than that to save… oh…" Grimmjow groaned softly, tossing his head to the side as Ichigo dampened his fingers and began exploring his entrance. He immediately took advantage of that, gently nipping the Espada's throat. Grimmjow gasped, his fingers digging into the teen's back. Ichigo groaned in pleasure at that slight pain before hooking his fingers. The arrancar reacted instantly, his insides flexing as he stifled a cry and Ichigo smiled before biting his throat, tearing another groan from the Espada. He loved seeing his mate respond like that.

Exploring Grimmjow's insides with his fingers, Ichigo slid down the arrancar's body so he could take his erection in his mouth. Grimmjow's soft grunt turned into a needy whine as he swirled his tongue over the head, gently teasing the overheated flesh.

"Ichigo… for fuck's sake, take me…" Grimmjow said as he writhed at the pleasurable torture. Ichigo lifted his head and smiled as he saw his lover, his pale body gilded by the light of the setting sun, his bright blue eyes hazy with lust and need.

"You're so beautiful like this." He said huskily before moving back up, gripping Grimmjow's thighs and lifting them up, flicking the Espada's calves over his shoulders before diving in. The arrancar cried out at the first, forceful thrust, then bit his hand to stifle himself.

Ichigo didn't lighten up on him for a moment, revelling in the feeling of being buried to the hilt in his mate. He pulled out only to thrust back in, setting a rhythm that screamed of power and dominance. Even with his hand to muffle the sounds, Grimmjow's mews and gasps were too loud. Ichigo vaguely knew that someone was likely to hear, but he simply didn't care. All he cared about was the sweat beading on pale flesh, the trembling thighs gripping him and the tight heat around his cock. This was good, this was perfect.

Capturing the Espada's neglected cock in one hand, Ichigo began pumping him in time with the rhythm of his thrusts. Grimmjow's eyes were glazed, his hands digging into the bedsheets as Ichigo teased his prostate before hitting it dead on and making the arrancar shudder with pleasure.

"Ichigo!" Grimmjow's growl dissolved into a mew as Ichigo hit his prostate again and again. The arrancar was panting now and he could tell from the way Grimmjow had closed his eyes and bit his lip that he was struggling not to come first. A struggle he was going to lose, and Ichigo made sure of it by keeping up the attention on his prostate and pairing it with long, firm strokes of his cock. A final, deep thrust took the Espada over and Grimmjow turned his head and caught the pillow between his teeth, biting down hard on the white fabric to muffle his scream. Muscles rippled and clenched around him, and Ichigo came a moment later, savoring the intense pleasure as he filled his mate with his seed.

Ichigo carefully released Grimmjow's legs and pulled away, just watching his lover for a moment. He was a beautiful sight, his hard body lightly dappled with sweat, his bright blue eyes cloudy with exhaustion and satisfaction. Feeling pleased and sated, Ichigo lay down beside him and cupped Grimmjow's cheek, pulling the Espada into a deep, searching kiss.

"Um, Ichigo?" Yuzu's voice from the other side of their door was a squeak and Ichigo went stiff with horror as Grimmjow lazily looked over. "Everyone is going to bed… um… the babies want Grimmjow-kun!" Grimmjow sighed, prying him off the bed to stand on wobbly legs.

"Can you give us a few minutes?" He asked and Ichigo blushed deeply as he heard Yuzu's relieved affirmative. How much has she heard? Too much, that was certain. Grimmjow yawned as he began cleaning himself up. "We might be busted." He said, slightly amused, and Ichigo's blush deepened a moment before he shook his head.

"I don't want to hide it anyway." No doubt everyone was going to be a bit concerned, but he wasn't sure who they'd be more concerned for, him or Grimmjow. Probably Grimmjow, actually, since they knew what he'd been through. The Espada gave him a warm smile and Ichigo blinked as he leaned over the bed for a moment, sliding a hand behind his head.

"Good." And Grimmjow gave him a deep, passionate kiss. Ichigo returned every bit of the passion, feeling his toes curl. But the cubs would need their dam, and he had school tomorrow. There was no way they were getting in another round tonight. Smiling, he watched Grimmjow get the children and settle them into the closet for the night. One thing they'd saved money on was cribs. The Espada's parental instincts would never have allowed them to use them.

Feeling content and pleased with the world, Ichigo rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, easily falling asleep.


	13. Stuff Happens

Grimmjow grinned to himself as he bit his thumb, then placed the bleeding digit against Ryuu's mouth. The baby gave him a quizzical look, but fed willingly enough on his blood and reiatsu. Then he immediately yawned and flopped over, his little body absorbing the command Grimmjow had placed in his reiatsu.

This was something hollow mothers could and would do, typically when the cubs needed to be utterly silent for some reason. And there could be plenty of reasons for that, in Hueco Mundo. The command he'd laid in his reiatsu was simply the urge to sleep. The cubs couldn't resist, and he quickly finished with Masaki and Kai, checking them over briefly with his senses before grinning and leaving the nest.

Ichigo was staring at his computer with a bored expression, but he wasn't the least bit surprised by the Espada sneaking up behind him. He'd cut his teeth on Isshin's sneak attacks. Grimmjow embraced him from behind, and Ichigo leaned into the touch with a soft sigh.

"I put the kids to sleep, they won't be waking up for a while. Want to do something interesting?" He asked softly and Ichigo flashed him a smile. The teen was getting tired of his schoolwork, Grimmjow could tell.

"I would love to. Oh, I went to Kisuke with my hollow's concern." Ichigo said, pulling himself out of the chair and giving the arrancar a kiss. Grimmjow savored every moment of it. Ichigo's lips and tongue always felt like a small piece of heaven. "The answer is no. Unlike an adjuchas or vasto lorde, I'm not made up of thousands of souls, including female ones. So unless I start eating and assimilating souls, a conception is out of the question."

"Nothing to worry about then." Grimmjow said, then grinned. "Does that mean you want me to top?" He asked teasingly and Ichigo smiled before giving him another deep, searching kiss.

"I would like to know what it feels like." He admitted. "If you don't mind?" He asked questioningly and the arrancar laughed softly.

"Mind? Nah. Actually, I've been wondering what it would feel like to be inside you." He nuzzled Ichigo's cheek, pulling him towards the bed. "I hardly ever topped, way back when, but I'm not that guy anymore." Most of his personality and memories came from him, but Grimmjow was the composite of literally thousands of souls. That influenced everything he did.

"Good. Just be careful, okay?" Ichigo said and Grimmjow could see he was a bit scared. But with thousands of souls, he knew how to handle an anal virgin.

Clothes came off, and Grimmjow took a moment to just admire his mate. Ichigo looked wonderful, lying back on the bed, his naked and aroused body on display for his lover. Grimmjow slid onto the bed, kissing Ichigo thoroughly as he slowly rubbed his body against the teen, like a cat marking its favorite person. Retrieving the tube of cream – they'd stuffed it under the mattress after Karin had almost borrowed it for her hands – Grimmjow smiled wickedly and spread it over his fingers. Ichigo made a small, distressed sound as he spread the teen's legs, carefully exploring that puckered entrance with his fingers. Grimmjow quieted him by planting a kiss on the tip of his erection, then taking just the head into his mouth. Distracted with the pleasure, Ichigo was almost able to ignore the discomfort of being stretched.

Grimmjow took his time, scissoring his fingers and searching until he heard Ichigo's gasp and felt the sudden tensing of muscles around his fingers. Licking the tip of his cock, he tasted a few drops of pre-cum and grinned. Yeah, he'd definitely found the spot. Marking that in his mind for later, the blue haired arrancar kept stretching the teen, adding a third finger and finally a fourth. He was big, he knew he was big and he wanted to make sure Ichigo was ready.

"Okay." His own voice was heavy with desire, and Grimmjow spread a bit more cream over his cock before positioning himself. Gazing into chocolaty brown eyes, he slowly eased his way in and groaned at the tight heat around him. Ichigo was flushed adorably, closing his eyes tightly at the intrusion. Grimmjow kissed his throat and gently soothed him, rubbing his hip with one hand. He waited until the pain eased off Ichigo's face, then began to move.

Grimmjow kept his thrusts slow and controlled, savoring the feeling of Ichigo's body and the small, cute sounds his lover was making. There was still a bit of pain on his face, but it was fading fast, overwhelmed by the pleasure. Grimmjow helped that along as he gripped Ichigo's erection, stroking the straining flesh with his still damp fingers. Ichigo moaned at even the slightest touch, jerking his hips up to meet Grimmjow's thrusts. The arrancar gasped at that, and speeded the pace, kissing Ichigo deeply as the teen's warm heat wrapped firmly around his dick. It felt delicious in there, hot and tight, and he gripped the teen's buttocks, thrusting more firmly into that luscious ass. That left Ichigo's cock with no direct stimulation but the teen didn't seem to mind, moaning softly at the intense pleasure.

"Grimmjow… ah…!" Ichigo gasped out, his brown eyes half lidded and full of passion. Grimmjow kissed him again, stifling the sounds for a moment as their tongues eagerly sought each other. "Mmm…" Ichigo murmured into his mouth then arched slightly at a particularly hard thrust. Grimmjow let go of his lips to breathe heavily, staring into that beautifully flushed face.

"God, Ichigo, you're fucking gorgeous." He told the teen, who looked at him with eyes that were glazed with pleasure. The burning heat in those brown orbs was amazing, a huge turn on.

"You're the one who's gorgeous… Grimmjow…" Ichigo gasped out, and Grimmjow grinned, lowering his head to gently tease the teen's nipples. Swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub of flesh, he used his grip on Ichigo's hips to drive himself even deeper, if it was possible. The heat around him tightened indescribably, and Grimmjow had to fight back the urge to climax right then. Ichigo was whimpering now, sounds of utter pleasure, but he still hadn't gone off. Grinning wickedly, Grimmjow decided to fix that.

Freeing one hand from Ichigo's hip, he gave the teen's straining erection a series of firm, heavy strokes. There was a hoarse gasp from his lover just before Kurosaki stiffened, arching off the sheets with the force of his orgasm. Grimmjow gasped, holding back a scream as Ichigo's walls tightened around him with almost unbearable intensity. His cock pulsed once, twice, three times, and Grimmjow grunted as he spent himself in a rush of pleasure. He lay on top of Ichigo for a moment, panting and enjoying the afterglow. Then he felt the teens' lips on his mask fragments and smiled, turning his head to catch those sweet lips in a warm, loving kiss.

"Grimmjow, I – I love you." Those words arrested him for a moment. It was the first time Ichigo had said that to him. Grimmjow didn't have to think twice about his response, though.

"I love you too, Kurosaki." He said huskily. He knew that was true. This was similar to the feelings he'd had for Kai, and he knew damned well that that had been love. The smile on Kurosaki's face was heart-warming and Grimmjow smiled back, reaching up to gently stroke sweaty orange hair. Then he sighed and pulled away, sliding out of his lover. "I wish I could stay, but the cubs'll wake up in the middle of the night." That was their routine and Grimmjow didn't really mind, but he needed to be with them if he was going to feed them without waking Ichigo. The teen nodded, stifling a yawn.

"I understand. Goodnight, Grimmjow." Ichigo said sleepily and Grimmjow smiled before giving him one last kiss. That done, he slipped off the bed and made his way to the closet, slipping into his nest and adjusting the sleeping children in their little cocoons of blankets. He wasn't worried about any of them accidentally suffocating or anything like that. Hollows were too tough for that, and any distress on the part of the cubs would wake him instantly. Then he would take care of it, and his cubs would be safe.

Content with this beautiful end to a long day, Grimmjow let himself drift off to sleep.

* * *

For Grimmjow and Ichigo, everything went completely to hell in a hand basket the next morning.

"Ichigo, wake up!" The teen found himself being shaken awake at an ungodly hour and groaned, turning his head to look at the clock. Four in the morning? Blinking, he managed to focus enough to look into Grimmjow's face. The Espada's expression sent him bolt upright and he nearly banged his face against Grimmjow's forehead. "I can't wake Masaki up!" The arrancar was clearly panicking, and Ichigo shoved himself off the bed.

"Is she breathing?" He demanded and Grimmjow nodded, his own breathing too fast and shallow. "Then calm down. We'll figure out what's wrong." He said as soothingly as he could, when he honestly wanted to panic himself. "Can you get the lights?" Ichigo went to the closet as Grimmjow flicked on the lights. Kai and Ryuu were both looking concerned and apprehensive, but Masaki was deeply asleep and completely unaffected by the activity around her. "Hey Masaki." Ichigo gently picked her up, bouncing her a little in his arms. "Masaki?" There wasn't even the slightest hint of a reaction and he bit his lip. "Sweetie, stop scaring us… Grimmjow, can you get dad?" Isshin would know what was normal breathing and pulse for a baby.

"Ichigo, you don't think this is because of what I did to put them to sleep?" Grimmjow's anxiety was making his reiatsu pulse, despite the collar he was wearing, and Ichigo winced at the force of it. The babies were completely unaffected but he was pretty sure the Espada would be waking up his sisters soon. "It's instinctive, I did it with my last litter and there were never any problems!"

"It couldn't have been just that. Kai and Ryuu are just fine." Ichigo pointed out, not mentioning that it might be what Grimmjow had done combined with something else, something peculiar to Masaki. That wasn't what his lover needed to hear right now. "Can you get dad?" Grimmjow nodded and ran out the door. Ichigo put a hand over Masaki's mouth, and was relieved to find that her breathing seemed to be slow and steady. He was no medical expert, though.

But his father was, and he'd examined the babies plenty of times before. Isshin's demeanor was all medical professional as he looked over Masaki.

"Her vitals are normal and stable. If I didn't know better, I would say this is just a very deep sleep." Isshin lifted an eyelid and shone a light in the babies' pupil. But Masaki didn't stir. "All her responses are normal, but her reiatsu feels… muffled. Grimmjow-kun, what exactly did you do?" He asked, sounding completely non-judgmental. But the Espada still looked completely miserable as he responded.

"I fed her a bit of my blood mixed with my reiatsu, and a command to sleep. I did it at least three times with my old litter, when I thought there might be something hunting us… nothing like this ever happened." Grimmjow sounded almost ready to cry, and Ichigo put an arm around him, giving him a comforting hug. "If I hurt her, I'll never forgive myself."

"Hmm. I think this problem may be spiritual in nature. I'll call Urahara." Isshin said and Ichigo nodded, biting his lip. If the problem was spiritual, Grimmjow's reishi treatment really might have somehow triggered it. The Espada ran a hand through his hair before taking Masaki from Isshin and quietly begging her to wake up.

Isshin soon came back and they took the babies to the car. They didn't bother with car seats, instead Grimmjow cocooned the infants in his power. If they had an accident the babies could go through the windshield and still be perfectly fine. And the car was far too small for three car seats, anyway. When they reached the shop, Urahara was waiting for them, looking like he'd just fallen out of bed. But that was true of everyone.

"Please, bring her in here." Urahara said and Grimmjow followed him, crooning softly to the child in his arms. "Let me see." Kisuke began examining Masaki, who didn't stir at all as her aura was probed. Ichigo put an arm around Grimmjow's shoulders, gently drawing the Espada away. Being too close would only interfere with Urahara's tests. Grimmjow growled softly in protest but didn't try to stop him, just clenching his hands into fists. He was practically vibrating with anxiety and Ichigo thought he needed a distraction.

"Grimmjow, maybe we should go look after Kai and Ryuu." He suggested quietly and bright blue eyes snapped to him. "They're scared." Isshin had put them on the floor and was trying to play with them, but the two babies were both clearly unnerved. Grimmjow drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"Yeah… you're right. Okay." He muttered, going over to kneel beside Isshin. He put on a fake semblance of calm for the children, rolling Kai onto his back to give him a tickle. Ryuu squeaked, his tail lashing as Isshin smiled and did the same thing to him. Ichigo just watched, but couldn't keep his gaze from returning to Masaki. She was so tiny and still, lying on Urahara's examining table.

"Aha!" They all looked over at the sudden, triumphant sound from the scientist. "That's what happened!" Grimmjow stood and went over, Kai and Ryuu forgotten in his concern for his daughter.

"What is it?" He asked, just barely beating Ichigo to the question. Ichigo felt a bit of relief as Urahara beamed at them both. If it were bad news, the scientist wouldn't have been smiling like that. "What's wrong with her?"

"It's a new invention of mine. I had no idea it would affect your children, Grimmjow-kun, Kurosaki-kun." Urahara said apologetically and Ichigo blinked as Grimmjow growled. An invention? "I made it for the local shinigami, to draw out particularly hard to find hollows. It's a special reishi frequency that attracts them. Masaki must have been a touch more sensitive to it than her brothers, and because of Grimmjow's sleep command, she was tugged in two different directions. Her response was to fall into a very deep sleep." He gently stroked Masaki's ears, ignoring Grimmjow's growl of frustration. "But now that we've resolved that, it will be easy to fix!" He said cheerfully, to the relief of both parents and grandparent. "Here we go!" He held up – some kind of gadget – and Ichigo blinked as Grimmjow suddenly winced. Kai and Ryuu both began to cry as Masaki started awake, blinking her eyes. Urahara hastily shut off his little machine as Grimmjow scooped up his child with a small sob.

"Masaki, oh Masaki…" The powerful Espada murmured, cuddling his little girl to his chest. Isshin knelt beside Ryuu and Kai again, trying to comfort them. With the machine off it was easy, and Ichigo wondered what it had sounded like. He couldn't hear a thing.

_It sounded goddamn awful, King._ His hollow complained and Ichigo blinked before grinning. So he had heard it… just not with his own ears. _Now go get Masaki away from him, I want to see her._ Ichigo scoffed at the thought. He wasn't going to make Grimmjow let go of his daughter, right after this scare. Instead, he put his arms around Grimmjow and looked over his shoulder, watching as their daughter gave them both a confused look. It seemed to say, 'Me? I'm fine. What are you going on about?'

"Kisuke, when did you make this machine?" Isshin suddenly asked and Ichigo frowned. "And why? Did the shinigami ask you for it?"

"I just made it this week. And yes actually, they said they were having trouble with a very elusive… hollow… reiatsu…" Urahara ground to a halt, his eyes going wide as he looked at the baby in Grimmjow's arms. "Oh." Grimmjow hissed and Ichigo winced as they put it together. The shinigami had no idea what the children were, or they wouldn't have used something like that, but they were definitely sensing the babies. And they were trying to find them. "Oh dear." There was a long pause and Kisuke finally sighed. "Grimmjow, Ichigo… I hate to say this, but there is no effective way to conceal the babies' developing reiatsu." Ichigo nodded, feeling a little sick. They'd already gone over it with Kisuke, and the problem was that any kind of gigai or item that muffled their reiatsu would also choke it off. That wouldn't matter if they were ordinary humans, but they were far from that and they needed to develop their spiritual powers or they would be crippled later in life. "You might want to consider taking them to Hueco Mundo while Unohana and myself take up your case with the Seireitei." He suggested and Ichigo stiffened, glancing at his father. Isshin looked very grim and unhappy. "I don't suggest this lightly, but…" Kisuke shrugged and Ichigo bit his lip as Grimmjow cuddled Masaki close.

"Do you think they'll be able to eat like arrancar, though?" Grimmjow asked questioningly, then hesitated. "Can Ichigo?"

_He can, but just try to make him, hahaha._ Ichigo grit his teeth and sent his inner hollow a giant FUCK YOU. But his hollow had a point, the thought of feeding on dead hollows – who could talk and think, whatever their failings – made him feel sick.

"I can if I have to." He said firmly, getting a curious look from Urahara and a disturbed one from his father. "But I'd rather not. Maybe I could bring a supply of MRE's or something?" He could likely carry quite a lot of those, if Grimmjow took the babies. "Although if we have to stay there permanently, it's going to be a problem." He said reluctantly. He really, really didn't want to eat hollows. Urahara looked pensive for a moment, then smiled.

"Well, if Kurosaki-kun can feed from hollows than the babies will almost certainly be able to!" He said happily and Grimmjow blinked as Ichigo frowned, then nodded. The shopkeeper had a point, and if Grimmjow pre-digested the souls for them it would be even more likely to succeed. Although if his mate was going to puke up hollow meat for the children, Ichigo really didn't want to see it. "That's good, at least. As for the rest of it, we'll just have to play this by ear. A great deal will depend on how Soul Society reacts to the news."

"This can fucking well wait a few days." Grimmjow suddenly interrupted. "I'm not leaving without saying goodbye to the little woman." Ichigo smiled sadly at that and gently hugged Grimmjow, cuddling him and Masaki. That was really a sweet thing for the bloodthirsty arrancar to say.

"And we have to say goodbye to all my friends, and get supplied together. You really think this is the best thing to do?" He asked. Ichigo wasn't sure. But if they couldn't hide the children and Soul Society was after them… Urahara nodded somberly.

"I don't see any alternative. And Grimmjow-kun cannot be here when we approach Soul Society. They would almost certainly try to kill him. If he's safely away when they get the news, calmer heads might prevail." He said and Ichigo scowled. He wasn't at all surprised, though. The Espada and arrancar were under a sentence of death, as far as Soul Society was concerned.

"Jerks. I haven't even killed any shinigami since I was a basic hollow." Grimmjow muttered and Ichigo poked him in the side, then winced. With his hierro it was a bit like poking a wooden board. But Grimmjow got the point and shut up, ignoring the curious look Urahara was giving him. Instead, they gathered up the children and thanked Urahara for his time, as well as apologizing for waking him in the middle of the night. The shopkeeper waved it off with a smile and Ichigo sighed to himself they brought the children home.

There was no way he was going to get back to sleep. There was far too much to think about.

* * *

Grimmjow looked at his babies in their playpen and heaved a deep, heartfelt sigh.

He'd never imagined he'd feel so bad about returning to Hueco Mundo. For good or ill, mostly ill, it was his home. It was the place he'd wandered for much, much longer than he'd stayed in the Living world. He'd carved out a place for himself there, with nothing but fire and ferocity. The endless twilight was cold and brutal, but also welcoming to a corrupted soul like him.

But now he had a family. He had people he was going to be leaving behind. Yuzu was devastated by the news, although they'd hastened to assure her it might only be temporary. Karin was mad at them both for running out, although she admitted it wouldn't do much good if Grimmjow was killed immediately. All of Ichigo's friends were sad to see them go, although Ichigo's body would still be here with Kon at the steering wheel. Chad and Ishida had both promised to keep him firmly under control, to the plushies' distress.

Grimmjow was sad to lose them all. He'd never had much support, when he was raising Yume, but he knew how important that kind of support was. Having grandparents, aunts and uncles around could help a young couple immeasurably. Now they would be on their own, and with three demanding cubs it was going to be tough.

"At least I'll have Ichigo." He murmured, consoling himself with that thought. Humanoid cubs were a lot more complicated than little kittens, but he'd have the teen to share the burden with. And if they could just find Harribel, they might have even more help than that.

That was the plan. Starting in Urahara's training area, Grimmjow would open a Garganta to Outpost 26. Then they would try to find Harribel and all the others who had flocked to her banner. It might not be an ideal environment to raise cubs, but Harrible would make sure no one dared harm the babies. She wasn't terribly nurturing – her shark nature precluded that – but she was a decent sort and would never eat someone else's cubs. Some of the other hollows, like Mila Rose, might prove to be nurturing enough to help out with the babies. Nel certainly would, if she was there. That thought made Grimmjow smile. The shinigami hadn't been able to bring Nel to see the cubs again so this would be her first time seeing them.

Sighing, Grimmjow pulled himself away from the crib and went to the kitchen. Sorting through all the items in the pantry, he decided to make brownies. He loved chocolate and it would be comforting right now, not just for himself but for the whole family.

It wasn't much, but it was all he could do.


	14. Hueco Mundo

"Do we have everything?" Ichigo asked and Grimmjow checked the contents of his bag. They were in Urahara's training area, getting ready to leave.

"I think so." He was loaded up with jars of baby food, disposable diapers and, strangely enough, a box of condoms. When they were packing up Grimmjow had happened to mention that his body would be ready for more cubs soon, and it was a shame they would have to switch to non-penetration. So Ichigo had bought some condoms, which had been very embarrassing when he had to explain to the arrancar how they worked. He'd died long before safe sex was even a word, let alone a reality. "No, I'm missing the wet naps." Searching around, Grimmjow located the box and slid it into his bag. "I love those things." They worked at cleaning up everything. "Now I've got everything. Ready to suit me up?"

"Sure." Grimmjow smiled to himself as Ichigo helped him get on the baby harness. It had been designed for triplets, and required a strong back and stronger body to handle. But Grimmjow had that in spades. It might have been easier to split the children between the two of them, but it wouldn't have been wise. If trouble came, Ichigo would face it while Grimmjow concentrated on keeping the cubs out of harms way. "Now for the babies… oh damn it all." Grimmjow sighed as he saw that his offspring had managed to scale the edges of the portable playpen when no one was watching. Fortunately, there were trails in the sand and it wasn't hard for Isshin and the girls to catch them. "I love how they all went in separate directions. Hey cubs, you're supposed to look out for each other." He scolded them as he took Masaki and got her settled in one of the pouches. Ichigo laughed, taking Kai from Yuzu and putting him in the back pouch as Isshin got Ryuu settled in beside Masaki. They all got handed little rattles, which they all adored.

"Do you really have to go?" Yuzu said tearfully and Ichigo gently hugged her.

"We'll be back soon, little woman." Grimmjow told her as gently as she could, and she nodded with soft sniffles. They both exchanged hugs with Isshin and Karin, who threatened to kick their butts if they didn't come back. Then it was time for the garganta.

Grimmjow had no trouble opening it, but getting through took a while. Almost two hours of travel, in fact, and the cubs were babbling throughout the whole thing. Grimmjow glanced down and saw that Masaki was looking around alertly while Ryuu was chewing on his rattle. Then Kai started to cry and Grimmjow concentrated on him a moment. He just wanted attention, from the feelings he was getting, so the arrancar gave a soft growl. The baby immediately quieted down.

"I wish I knew how you do that." Ichigo said wistfully and Grimmjow just shrugged. It was mostly instinctive and impossible to explain. "What did he want?"

"Just attention." He said and grinned as Ichigo fell back a bit so he could play with Kai. "If the silly brat hadn't kept starting fights with Ryuu, I'd have put him in the front and Masaki in the back." Masaki seemed to be more capable of entertaining herself than the boys. Ichigo laughed, playfully fending off a swinging rattle.

They finally got to Hueco Mundo proper, and Grimmjow looked up at the sky. The endless moon was full and beautiful, and the thick reishi of the air was invigorating. As much as he'd liked the Living world, this was home and he was glad to be back. Masaki's ears flicked as she sampled the air, then babbled happily. Ryuu's tail lashed as much as it could, in the carrier, and Kai dropped his rattle. Ichigo retrieved it for him before he could start to cry.

"That's nice, isn't it cubs?" Grimmjow crooned to them. "They like the reishi in the air." He responded as Ichigo gave him a questioning look. The teen nodded.

"It does feel nice. I noticed that the last time I was here. I think it's even thicker than Soul Society." He said and Grimmjow nodded.

"Yeah, it is." He'd been to Soul Society a few times, so the arrancar was sure of that. He kept his sensing out as far as possible, but it wasn't easy with Ichigo beside him. The teen's reiatsu was nearly overwhelming, which was comforting but also made sensing very difficult.

He still caught the three adjuchas trying to sneak up on them, though. He murmured a warning to the teen, who nodded and got his sword out before going bankai. Grimmjow caught a momentary hesitation from the stalkers, but apparently they were committed to their goal. All the babies whimpered as they sensed the danger but Grimmjow hushed them with a soft growl, cocooning them in his power as they stopped and waited for the threat.

It didn't take long for the danger to show up. Realizing they had been spotted, the adjuchas rushed them. All three of them were huge monsters and too ignorant or stupid to realize what they were facing. Ichigo tore through them easily, as easily as Grimmjow had broken Di Roy's mask, so long ago. One of them escaped, fleeing as the other two fell, but the teen didn't bother to pursue it. Grimmjow eyed the corpses, his mouth almost watering at the thought of a really good meal.

"Do you mind if I…?" He asked Ichigo, knowing that he probably wouldn't enjoy seeing his mate feeding. But it would be a shame to let all this go to waste. Ichigo shook his head and Grimmjow gently pulled the babies out of the carrier, leaving them with Ichigo as he devoured the corpses in the sand.

He finished one of the adjuchas entirely and ate quite a bit of the second before he was gorged to repletion. He felt full and wanted nothing more than to find a place to sleep and digest, but it wasn't time for that. Forcing himself up, Grimmjow reclaimed the babies from Ichigo, who helped put them back in the carrier. The babies were all looking at him wide-eyed and Grimmjow brushed his senses over them curiously.

"Oi, they're taking after you shinigami. They're all freaked out by the meal." Grimmjow said with a smile, ruffling Ryuu's hair. The baby squeaked and swatted at him with the rattle. "I'm not actually different, you know." He told the cubs. They were sensing the foreign, undigested reiatsu inside him, and they didn't like it. They'd never reacted that way when Ichigo fed him, but their sire's reiatsu was nearly as familiar to them as their dam's.

"They'll get used to it. I can't tell the difference at all." Ichigo said and Grimmjow nodded. The cubs would get used to it, especially when they realized it meant their dam had plenty of food for them.

They wandered for an indeterminable length of time, and had to pause to change diapers and give the kids a chance to play. Grimmjow considered using his blood and reiatsu to put them asleep, but finally decided against it. With Ichigo here there was next to no danger and if they made another kill, he'd try to feed the cubs directly from it. But the only adjuchas he sensed was smart enough to run away, and he didn't sense anything else until he bumped noses with someone familiar. Ichigo looked back at him questioningly as Grimmjow abruptly stopped.

"I just found an arrancar." He said before flaring his reiatsu in a welcoming way. There was an answering flare and Grimmjow tilted his head to one side, trying to identify the stranger. The reiatsu was annoyingly familiar, but he just couldn't place it.

_Master, it's Gantenbainne._ Pantera supplied, to Grimmjow's relief. That arrancar was a right enough guy. They hadn't been friends but that was because Grimmjow had been a jackass. If they had both been living men, back when he was human, Grimmjow thought he would have gotten on with Gantenbainne just fine. Then he turned his attention to Ichigo.

"It's Gantenbainne. I think he's the one who fought Chad, he's a pretty good guy." He said and Ichigo smiled faintly.

"Chad mentioned him, he said he seemed like an honorable fighter. That's good." He said and Grimmjow could see the shinigami had been more than a bit apprehensive about meeting the arrancar. But then, it wasn't surprising, he had invaded and caused about a ton of damage to Los Noches. Admittedly, Grimmjow had helped him along in that. In retrospect he was a bit appalled at what they had done. How hard had those towers been to put up anyhow?

"Grimmjow!" There was a rain of sand as Gantenbainne skidded down the slope. Grimmjow was mildly surprised by how happy the other arrancar was to see him. "Harribel has been worried about you. And bebes!" Gantenbainne bent over a bit to peer at the cubs and made a strange, kissy face at them. That seemed to delight them, or maybe it was his afro. Either way, Masaki cooed and Ryuu laughed. Kai started to cry at being left out and Grimmjow huffed a laugh.

"Take him out, would you Ichigo? He wants to see what's going on." Ichigo laughed and pulled out his son, holding the boy so he could see the new arrancar. That made him giggle happily as the other arrancar exclaimed over him.

"They're so cute, I can hardly believe they came from you! Ah, not that you're not… um…" Gantenbainne fumbled, clearly trying not to set off the volatile Espada. Grimmjow let him sweat for a moment before laughing.

"Ah, calm down, my temper's a lot better these days. And yeah, they're a hell of a lot cuter than me." Grimmjow was more than willing to admit it, and gently stroked Ryuu's hair. Gantenbainne looked relieved and peered at Kai, who peered back with a rather cross eyed look.

"Where did he get those horns from?" The arrancar asked curiously. They were clearly not from Grimmjow, and Ichigo was a shinigami, so they were unusual.

"From me, or rather, my hollow." Ichigo admitted. His hollow had 'fessed up a while ago and explained that his fully released form had horns. Grimmjow hadn't seen it and Ichigo couldn't remember the time he'd spent in it, when he killed Ulquiorra. Kai's horns started further up on the sides of his head, but curled forward in a very similar way. "Masaki is the one that resembles my hollow the most, but fortunately she got a few features from Grimmjow." Ichigo pointed to his daughter who flirted her ears at Gantenbainne. He laughed at the cuteness and gently patted her head.

"Well, I should take you to the den. Don't want the bebe's outside too long, hey? Follow me." He said with a smile before starting off purposefully. Grimmjow followed gratefully, Ichigo close behind. He knew he was safe enough with the teen around, but his instincts still wanted to get his cubs under cover as soon as possible.

The hideout for the surviving arrancar and Espada turned out to be a network of caverns. Hueco Mundo was not just endless sand, there were places where you could find significant rock formations, and beneath them were always caverns. Grimmjow had no idea what carved them out – it couldn't be water – but he didn't much care. What mattered to him was that the lair was highly defensible, had plenty of exits and was nearly invisible from the surface. All of those things explained why Harribel had chosen this location and Grimmjow was sure it hadn't been by accident.

"She's better at this than I could ever be." Grimmjow muttered to himself. Harribel was a planner as well as a leader, and he was honest enough with himself to admit he'd never been much good at that. If he had, he might not have died so painfully.

"GWIMM!" The scream made him flinch and Ichigo move in front of him. Just in time to catch a flying Nel, who pinwheeled her arms madly in an effort to reach Grimmjow. "BABIES!" She shrieked and Masaki laid her ears back into her hair, giving the eternal toddler a severe look.

"Nell! No jumping on the babies." Ichigo said severely as Gantenbainne chuckled. "No knocking Grimmjow down and you have to be gentle, you understand?" That made Nel stop her frantic efforts as she looked up at Ichigo.

"I'll be good Itsygo! Can I see da baby hollows?" She asked and Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow, who nodded. He knew Nel would be able to sense the babies' distress and wouldn't do anything to hurt them. She wasn't actually a toddler, no matter how young she might look. "So cwute!" She exclaimed as Ichigo held her close to the babies. Masaki stayed standoffish, but Ryuu waved his rattle at her. "Hi! I'm Nel!" She looked at the baby hopefully but he just babbled at her.

"They ain't talking yet, Nel." Grimmjow said with good humor, glancing around. "Where are your brothers?" The eternal child was alone, which was a bit odd. They weren't very deep into Harribel's warren of caverns, either.

"Nel was pwayin' hide an' seek! They're hidin', but then Nel smelled Gwimmy and baby hollows!" Nel explained and Grimmjow nodded. That made sense; nothing could keep Nel away from the babies. "Who are they Gwimmy?" She was asking their names.

"That one's Ryuu." Ichigo said, pointing Nel at the mini-Grimmjow. "The girl is Masaki." Masaki's ears were starting to come forward again as the volume came down to normal levels. "Turn around, Grimm… that's Kai." Kai chewed on his rattle, looking at Nel curiously. "Watch out for the horns, he likes to head butt." Ichigo said cheerfully and Nel laughed.

"Okay Itsygo! You should take them to Hawwibel!" She said and Gantenbainne nodded.

"That's where we're going." He said. It was a bit of a walk through the caverns, though, and Grimmjow realized a problem was developing as the babies started to whimper. He gently shushed them with his power but knew it wouldn't last very long.

"They're hungry." He said as Ichigo glanced at him. "But I think I can keep 'em quiet long enough for us to reach Harribel." He would be most comfortable in the deepest part of this place, surrounded by powerful hollows he could trust.

Although that last part was a bit debatable. Grimmjow stiffened as Gantenbainne led them into the room Harribel was occupying and he saw someone he'd hoped to never see again.

"Szayel?! What in fuck, you're dead!" He exclaimed as he laid eyes on the pink haired scientist. Then he frowned. "Why do you feel so weak?" If he'd had to judge by nothing but power, he'd have said he was looking at a Gillian, and not a very powerful one at taht. Szayel adjusted his glasses before giving him a sickly sweet smile.

"You do manage to hit every sore point at once, don't you Grimmjow?" He said lightly but Grimmjow didn't miss the dark undercurrent in his voice. Before, he wouldn't have noticed, but he was more perceptive now. "Yes, I did in fact die. But I had several survival mechanisms in place. My primary one was my Gabriel ability but, in case that did not work, I had a clone of myself created." Grimmjow was completely lost and glanced at Ichigo. The teen seemed to understand what the scientist was saying. "Alas, while I could imprint it with my memories and personality, I couldn't give it the same degree of power as my primary body. I'm now on the same level as one of my old fraccion. Such is life. Now, I see you have children! The very first arrancar cubs, fascinating." Szayel eyed his children and Grimmjow immediately bristled.

"You stay away from them or I'll rearrange your face." He snarled and Szayel shook his head, not at all surprised. "Harribel, tell this freak he can't dissect my cubs!" That made Ichigo reach for his sword. There was a sigh as Harribel walked over from a large map.

"He already knows. I made it plain to him that I will not tolerate any invasive experiments on your cubs." She assured him, which reassured Grimmjow only a little.

"And no parasites. I heard about what he did to Yylfordt." Grimmjow said warily as Szayel smiled evilly. "In fact, I don't want you anywhere near them." He trusted Szayel considerably less far than he could throw him. The pink arrancar shook his head in mock sorrow.

"Alas, I am the primary medic here. If anything happens to your cubs, who else will you go to? So I do need to have a baseline of their vital statistics. I'm sure you understand." He said and Grimmjow had to hold back the urge to punch him in the face. While it would be satisfying he didn't think it would help.

"Grimmjow, please calm down. And Szayel, stop antagonizing them." She'd clearly noticed that Ichigo was close to losing it too, reacting to Grimmjow's anger and Szayel's general demeanor. "He needs to do general tests on the children, but it can wait. I can sense they're hungry." Grimmjow blinked in surprise at that. He hadn't expected Harribel to be that perceptive, sharks were not noted for being nurturing.

"Yeah, they are." Grimmjow glanced around the room. It was clearly a strategy and meeting room, but there were some corners free. He selected the one furthest from Szayel and started getting out the baby food as Ichigo unpacked the children. At the sight of the familiar jars they began chirruping.

"Grimmjow, can we trust him?" Ichigo asked quietly, his eyes sliding to Szayel. Grimmjow shook his head.

"Not even remotely. He's the one who fucked up your Quincy friend." He replied just as quietly and Ichigo looked grim. Ishida had mentioned how utterly twisted that particular arrancar was. "But we might not have much choice if we want to stay here. We'll just have to keep an eye on him and the cubs."

"Great." Ichigo said grimly before taking a spoon. Nel demanded to be allowed to help, and Grimmjow supplied her with a spoon as well. She turned out to be surprisingly good at cub feeding. Gantenbainne left to go back to his patrol, but soon other arrancar were circulating in and out to get a look at the cubs. Nel's brothers came looking for her and Ichigo had to shush them sternly as the sound bothered the babies. They were used to people using normal voices.

"Hey, Harribel, where can we set up a nest?" Grimmjow asked and she gestured to Mila Rose. The arrancar stepped forward obediently as Harribel spoke.

"There are many unused caverns. Mila can show you around and you can select one to nest in." She said and Grimmjow nodded. They packed the cubs up again, hopefully for the last time, and followed Mila Rose out of the strategy room.

Hopefully everything would work out here. They had nowhere else to go.

* * *

Ichigo smiled at his cubs as he curled up with them in their new, well-appointed nest.

The arrancar had gotten a lot of things out of Los Noches before the shinigami had moved in, and one of those things had been plenty of blankets and clothing. Arrancar didn't actually need blankets – hierro protected from cold – they were just for comfort. So there were plenty available for the babies, who most certainly did need them. And the single shinigami living in the complex.

That last part was a bit awkward. No one was making an issue of it since Harribel accepted him, but the arrancar did not trust him. Ichigo couldn't really blame them. They knew he had friends on the side. What way would his loyalty fall, when push came to shove? Ichigo knew that his loyalty would always go to Grimmjow and his cubs, but they couldn't be so sure.

However, the distrust had an absolutely delightful consequence. Grimmjow had quickly settled in as Harribel's second in command. It was a role he fit into very well, since his memories of his past life had tamed his temper and arrogance. Before, he might have tried to usurp Harribel's position, but now he could recognize her skill and intelligence as well as her raw power. Grimmjow was an almost perfect subordinate, fierce, loyal and powerful. So he was out running patrols and fighting shinigami, while Ichigo was consigned to the nest with the children.

Ichigo smiled as he gently stroked Ryuu's hair, almost getting batted in the face with a bone covered tail. This was the most time he'd been able to spend with his children since summer vacation, and he was enjoying every moment of it. Masaki was trying to walk, and Ichigo thought she would succeed soon. He couldn't wait to see her first steps.

As if in response to his thought, his daughter looked at him and chirped. Smiling, he reached for the food. As it had turned out, Szayel's survival had been a stroke of luck for Harribel and her arrancar followers. He knew how to create the tofu like soul putty that the arrancar were eating. That made endless hunts unnecessary, and after several tests the scientist had told them that the children could eat it too. They didn't like it – tasteless was the best description – but with enough encouragement they would choke it down.

"I know it doesn't taste good Masaki." Ichigo gently coaxed her as she laid her ears back. "But it's what we eat around here. All the adjuchas have run away." They weren't stupid and the land that was claimed by the arrancar had been picked clean of prey. Masaki folded her ears down and took on a stubborn expression. "Come on sweety, you chirped, you know you're hungry." His daughter finally ate the tofu from his hand but managed to look quite disgusted at it. Ichigo laughed, then smiled as the boys started to chirp. If anything, they were worse than Masaki. He might end up wearing the tofu.

Sure enough, he was wiping himself off with a towel when Grimmjow came into the room. He was in his released form and looking a bit battered around the edges. Ichigo gave him a questioning look as he knelt by the babies.

"Ran into a taichou." He said in answer and Ichigo winced, biting his lip. That could have gone very badly for Grimmjow. "He's still alive, we just kind of fucked each other up a bit before Harribel came and scared him off." Ichigo nodded. He knew Grimmjow was trying to exercise restraint in the hopes that Soul Society would eventually leave them alone.

Ichigo was starting to wonder how likely that was, though. He hadn't been aware of how bitter the war here was before he arrived. The shinigami were exterminating the arrancar without mercy, and the hollows were responding in kind. The arrancar just wanted to be left alone, but could Soul Society ever do that? They believed in eliminating threats and the hollows could certainly be a threat someday. No one could deny that.

"Who was it?" Ichigo asked quietly as Grimmjow turned around, using his tail as a baby toy. All the children tried desperately to catch the bone covered appendage and Kai finally managed it, laughing as he held down the lashing length. Grimmjow could easily have lifted the baby up with his tail, but the baby might get dragged up. Kai had a very strong grip.

"One of your old Visored friends, the one with silver hair." Grimmjow said and Ichigo sighed. The Visored had all returned to Soul Society, which had managed to accept their inner hollows. It hadn't softened their stance with the arrancar any.

"Kensei. He probably didn't want to fight you, he must know about the children by now. No wonder you both got out alive." Ichigo said, not hiding his worry. He was afraid that someday Grimmjow would meet a taichou who wouldn't hesitate to kill him. Grimmjow turned slightly and put an arm around his shoulders, ignoring Kai's squall as his tail slipped away from the baby. Masaki immediately pounced, claiming it for her own.

"I'm tough, Ichigo. I can take it." He said and Ichigo smiled weakly. He wasn't sure what he would do if Grimmjow didn't come back. Yet, one of them had to look after the babies and the arrancar just didn't trust him like Grimmjow. "Hey, stop worrying. What will happen, will happen. Live life for today." Grimmjow whispered, his breath warm on Ichigo's throat. He shivered slightly before putting his arms around the arrancar. The bone armor was cold but he ignored it, nuzzling one furry ear.

"Just make sure you come back. I'm not taking care of these brats without you." He said firmly and Grimmjow grinned, revealing sharp canine teeth.

"That's the spirit! Ow, Kai!" Frustrated with the lack of attention, Kai had just headbutted Grimmjow in the leg. "That hurt." He sounded surprised and reached down to touch Kai's horns. "They're sharpening, you little bastard. You better stop hitting Ryuu with them or someone's gonna be bleeding." Ichigo smiled as Grimmjow scolded the little boy who just looked at him adoringly.

Grimmjow was right. They could only live for the moment here, and he would enjoy every moment he had.


	15. Big Fat Whoppers and More Sexing Up

Author's Note: I know that in the actual anime, Ichigo would recognize them. But not everything has to follow the canon perfectly and I like this idea.

"You can do it Masaki." Ichigo softly encouraged his daughter. He was standing in front of her, holding both her hands and she was holding herself upright on shaky legs. "Here we go…" He carefully let go of her hands and she immediately plopped back down onto her bottom. "Ah, let's try again." He was certain Masaki was close to walking. She was pulling herself up all the time, now. He gently took her hands and helped her stand again before slowly letting go. "Take a step towards me, Masaki." He encouraged her and the little hybrid baby took one tentative step. Then another. "Good girl Masaki!" He caught her as she lost her balance and fell forward. The little girl beamed and babbled something at him. It was starting to sound like words, and he was sure the babies would start to speak soon. Ryuu seemed to be a bit ahead of Kai and Masaki in that area, he was a very verbal baby.

The two boys were playing together, harmoniously for a change. Ichigo smiled as he tickled Masaki, then began to play peek-a-boo with her. She loved the silly little game, and Ichigo was so happy he almost didn't notice a pair of strangers entering his little den.

Almost, but not quite. His hollow hissed a warning and Ichigo turned to look. Surprisingly, his hollow was getting more protective of the children. He was a lizard and shouldn't have much in the way of parental instincts, but being around them constantly seemed to be sharpening what little was there.

The two arrancar girls weren't particularly powerful and Ichigo relaxed. He could take them both easily, not that he would want to start a fight around the babies. One of them had black hair in pigtails while the other was blonde. The blonde smiled at the babies and glanced at him questioningly for a moment. Ichigo nodded permission and she knelt down, holding out a hand to the boys. Ryuu abandoned his game with Kai to crawl to her, and she gently picked him up, cooing at the little blue boy. Kai wasn't the least bit dejected, crawling over to his father for attention.

"Hello. I'm Loly and this is Menoly." The black haired arrancar said with a friendly smile. Ichigo smiled back, pleased to see a friendly face. Not that most of the arrancar were hostile, exactly. More like… standoffish. There were a few exceptions and the babies had plenty of admirers, but that didn't mean Ichigo was getting a warm reception. "The cubs are beautiful." She said, but she didn't kneel down like her friend. Ichigo wondered if she was like Harribel, some species that didn't care for its young.

"Masaki just started walking." He said proudly, unable to hold back the achievement. "But what can I help you with?" He didn't think they'd come just to see his babies. Loly's smile widened as Menoly gently tickled Ryuu. She seemed to be mostly ignoring the conversation.

"We were just wondering about our friend, Orihime. Is she okay?" Loly asked, concerned, and Ichigo nodded.

"She's just fine. She's back with her friends and family in the real world." Mostly friends, Orihime didn't have a lot of family. "She didn't mention any friends in Los Noches." Ichigo said, a little surprised. But he wouldn't put it past Inoue to make some friends. She'd clearly made an impression on Grimmjow, even when he was a raging bastard. But she certainly hadn't mentioned them. Loly shrugged.

"She probably felt there was no point in looking back. But we can look her up someday, if there's a chance to open a garganta. Where would we find her?" She asked and Ichigo struggled with it. It was a bit hard to give directions to the arrancar, they lacked any knowledge of Karakura town. And it seemed like neither of them could remember the Living world at all.

"Now, what's going on here?" All three of them looked up, surprised, at the soft voice from the door. It wasn't a real door, just a curtain, but Grimmjow had pushed it aside and was leaning against the cave wall, effectively blocking the exit. He wasn't in his resurrecion, but he didn't need to be. He simply stared at Menoly and Ichigo blinked at the unspoken threat hanging in the air. The blonde haired arrancar swallowed hard, carefully putting Ryuu down before scooting away. The baby tried to follow, but Ichigo quickly grabbed him, setting him in the cushions beside Masaki.

"Grimmjow?" He questioned, feeling the incredible tension in the air. Loly's expression had turned into something ugly and hostile while Menoly just seemed quietly terrified. "What's wrong?" The Espada didn't say anything, switching his attention to Loly and taking slow, steady steps towards her. She began to back up, reaching for a dagger at her belt. "Grimmjow!" The Espada halted, but didn't take his eyes off the girl.

"Why are they here, Ichigo?" He asked softly and Ichigo frowned.

"They were just asking about Orihime. They said they were her friends – Grimmjow?" Ichigo asked, concerned, as the Espada laughed. It was a short, clipped sound that didn't sound the least bit humorous.

"Wow. I thought I had big balls, but you girls got me beat, telling him a whopper like that." Grimmjow said with a feral grin and Ichigo tensed, glancing at Menoly as he felt power being used. She was forming a cero, although from the look on her face she desperately didn't want to have to use it. "Put that away, bitch. Remember what happened last time." Grimmjow said without even looking and the blonde girl winced, letting her cero dissipate.

"You were supposed to be out on patrol." Loly said in a tight, controlled voice as she eased her hand away from her dagger. A good move since Grimmjow was clearly itching for a reason to hurt her. Grimmjow grinned nastily.

"Good thing our patrol caught an adjuchas, and I got to bring it home to the cubs." The explained why he was here and Ichigo nodded to himself. The babies really didn't like the soul putty, and Szayel was making sounds about failure to thrive and psychosomatic illnesses. So whenever they were lucky enough to catch an adjuchas, the arrancar brought bits of it back for the cubs. And if Grimmjow caught one, he ate it all then regurgitated it for the babies. Not pretty to watch but the children were overjoyed when they got that kind of food. Ichigo wasn't sure how it compared to real world food, but it had the tofu beaten, hands down. "Now, I want to make something clear to you." Grimmjow's hand shot out, gripping Loly and lifting her up by the neck. "If I ever catch you two anywhere near the woman, I will kill you both. Slowly. You got it, bitch?"

"She's a monster!" Loly snarled, and Ichigo was surprised to see fear in her face. Not fear of Grimmjow… fear of Orihime? "Why are you protecting her? She's horrible!" Grimmjow lifted his eyebrows and shook his head before turning and tossing her towards the door.

"You're weird as fuck. Here's a piece of advice… try to remember your past as a human. Maybe it'll help you figure out why you're such a raging bitch." He said as Loly snarled at him. "As for you," He said to Menoly, who had run to her friend. "Stop being her little lap dog. It's going to get you killed someday. Now get out." Grimmjow packed a lot of menace into those words and Menoly and Loly beat a hasty retreat.

"What happened between them and Orihime?" Ichigo asked. He hadn't asked when they were still in the room because Grimmjow was busy, and he had a feeling it might be something that would throw him into a rage. And he didn't want that when the children were around. Grimmjow scowled before going to him and gently picking up Kai, cuddling the boy.

"They beat the shit out of her." He said plainly and Ichigo tensed. "Because Loly was insanely jealous over Aizen. Don't ask me, I'm sure he didn't give a shit about her." Ichigo scowled, but it got worse as Grimmjow went on. "Menoly didn't do much besides hold a cero, but Loly was pretty damn close to beating her to death when I walked in. Menoly tried to use that little cero on me, so I cero'd her back and killed her. I still think the woman should have left her dead, but she's too damned nice. Inoue resurrected her and healed Loly, too. Seems like that freaked the bitch out. She's not too tightly wrapped."

"So I see." Ichigo muttered, feeling furious. He'd nearly told Orihime's stalkers where to find her! "I'm sorry, I had no idea." He felt like an idiot. Grimmjow rested a hand on his shoulder for a moment.

"Don't feel bad, Loly can be charming as hell when she puts her mind to it." The arrancar comforted him and Ichigo nodded. "Um… would you mind leaving the nest for a bit while I…?" Grimmjow looked a bit embarrassed and Ichigo grinned. He knew why.

"Sure, right away." He needed to go to the bathroom anyway. Although there were no bathrooms here, since there was no water. He usually went outside and just had to make the best of it. Fortunately, one of the Numeros had showed him how to take a sand bath. It wasn't ideal but it worked. And he really didn't want to watch his mate feeding the babies. The real hollow flesh was definitely better for them, but watching Grimmjow puke it up was still beyond disgusting.

So Ichigo took his time, and when he got back the babies were all looking full and sleepy. A wet patch on the floor was the only sign of what had happened, and that was just fine. Ichigo picked up Masaki and smiled, gently stroking her ears as the baby curled against him.

"Hey Ichigo, I was thinking. The babies aren't going to wake up for a while, and you brought a lot of condoms." Grimmjow said with a grin and Ichigo laughed. "You think we could make sure they don't go to waste?"

"Sounds great." Before he'd come to Hueco Mundo, Ichigo would have thought twice about having sex with his babies in the same room. The closet had at least created an illusion of privacy. Here there was none of that, but neither of them could stand being away from the children. So he'd developed a bit of flexibility where sex was concerned. Sleeping was good enough.

"Then take me to heaven, Ichigo." Grimmjow purred and Ichigo found the condoms and the lube. They were starting to run out of the second and he wished he'd brought a bit more. Pushing aside that problem, he watched for a moment as Grimmjow pulled away his clothes. They weren't Aizen's old uniform, they were one of the new outfits he'd gotten. Dark brown dappled with black, it worked well in Hueco Mundo.

"You're gorgeous." Ichigo said as he watched the pale skin being revealed. Then he reached for his own clothing. It was easy enough to get rid of, and he smiled as he saw Grimmjow returning the favor.

"So are you." The arrancar said, his voice heavy with desire. Ichigo moaned as he suddenly found himself pinned to the cushions, a warm mouth on his neck and heavy hands exploring his body. "Mmm… there's something I want to show you."

"Mmm? What's that?" Ichigo questioned, his mind a bit hazy from the pleasure. Grimmjow gently nibbled his neck then turned his attention to his earlobe. Ichigo moaned softly as he gently sucked on the sensitive skin before letting it go with a small pop. "Show… me…?" They both seemed to be getting distracted, not that he minded. Grimmjow chuckled softly and moved so that he was sitting up, straddling the teen's waist.

"Touch me right here." Grimmjow said, taking his hand and placing it on his hollow hole. Ichigo just looked at him in surprise. He knew that was a dangerous point for hollows, a weakness that a shinigami could exploit. Grimmjow wanted to be touched there? "Run your finger around it and touch the inside. But gently." He cautioned and Ichigo blinked, obeying the instructions. He was fascinated to find that the inside of Grimmjow's hole was warm, tingly and oddly fluid. It felt almost like he could stick his fingers inside the Espada, if he tried. No wonder this was a weak point. "Nnn!" Ichigo looked up and stared at Grimmjow's flushed face. The desire there made him lick his lips and Ichigo gently curled his fingers, teasing that sensitive spot.

"A pleasure point." It seemed so obvious now. And that gave him an idea. Gripping the arrancar's shoulders, he guided Grimmjow down until his hole was level with his erection.

"Unh… Ichigo, what are you… anh!" Grimmjow's eyes went wide as Ichigo thrust up into that empty space. It was much wider than his cock, but he could still rub his erection around the inside of it and the warm, tingling sensation sent a surge of heat through his groin. "Oh shit, ah!" Grimmjow's hands spasmed in the blankets, fisting the fabric as he was stimulated in a completely new way.

"Grimmjow." Ichigo panted, thrusting his hips and gaining more friction on that delicious surface. Grimmjow was making cute, helpless sounds and Ichigo loved every moment of it. "You feel… so good…" This was very different from being properly inside his lover, but it was just as amazing. Grimmjow whimpered and Ichigo could feel his straining erection, bouncing against his leg as he fucked the arrancar's hole.

"Ichigo… I can't… can't…" Grimmjow gasped and Ichigo knew he was close to cumming. It hadn't been very long, but clearly the stimulation to his hole was simply overwhelming. "Agh!" Grimmjow whined as he manfully held back his release. Ichigo ran his hands through blue hair, increasing his pace. "Ah, Ichigo!"

"Let it go." He told the arrancar and Grimmjow could hold back no longer. Ichigo felt that wonderful, hard body tensed against his, and the hot spurts of creamy cum splattering against his leg and the blanket beneath them. The sight of his lover's flushed face, the wide blue eyes, took him over the edge as well and Ichigo thrust into that strange tingling a final time before releasing. His cum splattered Grimmjow's back, covering his tattoo and running down his taunt buttocks.

"Shit." Grimmjow whispered, resting his head on Ichigo's chest. "That was so intense." The teen nodded, feeling almost exhausted. It had been incredibly intense. "Kinda short though. I like it to last longer." Grimmjow muttered, clearly annoyed with himself, and Ichigo laughed.

"That just means we can do it again. But first, we should get cleaned up." That was always a problem without water. Grimmjow flashed him a feral grin before pulling away, Ichigo's limp cock leaving his hollow hole.

"Yeah, we should." Ichigo swallowed hard as Grimmjow moved down his body, then began to lick the cum from the inside of his leg. The long, firm strokes of his tongue were an incredible turn on. And the location was teasingly close to his sac. But Grimmjow just concentrated on the cum, removing any trace of it. "Now you do me." Grimmjow glanced over his shoulder at the mess. "Because there is no way I'm reaching that. I'm flexible but I ain't in the circus." He said firmly and Ichigo laughed.

"Alright, alright. Since you're so demanding." He said teasingly before pulling himself up and slipping behind Grimmjow. Ichigo swallowed as he saw that the semen had slipped down the crack of Grimmjow's ass. But he started with the tattoo, removing the mess from the gothic six. Then he made his way down, cleaning it off firm, taunt muscles. Then he followed the trickle of cum down, using it as an excuse to explore Grimmjow's opening with his tongue. That made the arrancar jerk and moan softly.

"Hn… Ichigo…" He moaned softly, spreading his legs slightly, his hands palm down on the floor, holding himself up. "What are you… doing…" Grimmjow's breath hissed out as Ichigo went down further, teasing the Espada's sac with long, firm strokes of his tongue.

"Cleaning you off." Ichigo said teasingly before going back to Grimmjow's puckered entrance. The throaty moan the Espada gave made his limp cock twitch. Reaching under Grimmjow, he found that his lover's length was half-hard. Gently stroking his length, Ichigo licked his hole before dipping his tongue inside. Grimmjow's breath hissed out and Ichigo smiled as he felt his cock hardening in his hand. Pulling his hand away, he searched for the lube and the condoms. They'd already forgotten once, but fortunately Grimmjow hadn't caught. Three cubs were more than enough, for now at least.

A quickly unfurled condom and a bit of lube later, and Ichigo was ready. He gripped the back of Grimmjow's neck as he positioned himself, sliding inside. There was a grunt from the Espada and Ichigo waited for the tension in his body to ease. Then he began to take the blue haired man at a slow, steady pace. They were both a bit tired from the first time and this felt natural.

"Mmm, yeah, that's good…" Grimmjow muttered, his head hanging down and his eyes half-closed as Ichigo pumped his erection. "Nnn…yeah…" He groaned as the red haired shinigami thumbed his tip, sending a jolt of pleasure through his body. The hard length inside him was doing wonderful things, too, gently teasing his prostate but not hitting it dead on. That had to be deliberate; Ichigo knew his body pretty well by now. And that was fine, he wanted them to take their time this round.

And they did. Ichigo kissed the back of Grimmjow's neck, tasting the light coating of sweat on his pale skin. The Espada was trembling now, his desire slowly building as their bodies moved together. Ichigo savored the feeling of velvety walls rippling around him, the heat and suction that practically drew his cock in. He licked Grimmjow's shoulder blade before gently nipping the skin, enjoying the hierro beneath his teeth. It made Grimmjow feel harder, but there was also a strange thrill to it, knowing he could bite as hard as he liked without causing his partner anything but pleasure.

"Oh fuck, Ichigo." Grimmjow moaned, tossing his head back as Ichigo bit him on the throat. Fortunately the teen had expected that, or they might have had an awkward and slightly painful moment. "That feels so fucking good!" He loved this, the way Ichigo was teasing him, bringing him close but never taking him over. Ichigo gasped and his thrusts speeded up, his hands moving to grip Grimmjow's hips, pulling him closer.

"You feel wonderful in there…" Ichigo whispered in the Espada's ear, feeling him shudder at the soft breath against his ear. "Grimmjow, oh god." Ichigo groaned as he felt his pleasure going out of control, his balls tightening with his impending orgasm. Reaching down he gripped Grimmjow's cock and stroked him, striking his prostate at the same time. He heard Grimmjow make a strangled sound, then arch in pleasure as he erupted, coating Ichigo's hand in cum. The Espada's insides clenched around him like a vice and Ichigo cried out as he released.

They both slowly came down from the high, breathing heavily and coated in sweat. Ichigo slowly slid out of his mate and pulled away the used condom, tossing it into a corner of the room. Grimmjow would incinerate it later with a cero, just like he handled all of the trash. Right now, though, the arrancar clearly wanted to sleep. After pulling away the soiled blanket – they would have to let that dry, then pound it out – he curled up in the remaining blankets, smiling up at Ichigo. Ichigo smiled back and slid in beside him, placing a gentle kiss on the remains of his hollow mask. The bone felt odd under his lips, but he loved every part of Grimmjow. That included the things about him that were most certainly hollow.

"Dada!" Both their eyes snapped over as they heard that little voice. "Dada!" Ryuu beamed at them, proud of himself as Grimmjow chuckled and Ichigo blushed.

"He didn't stay asleep long." Grimmjow said in amusement, holding out an arm. Ryuu crawled over and got picked up, gently cradled between his two parents. "Good thing you didn't do that a few minutes earlier, cub. We wouldn't have even noticed." He told Ryuu who settled on his chest, clearly very happy at all the attention he was receiving. Ichigo smiled and gently ruffled soft blue hair.

"It's a bit embarrassing, but we just have to make do. But I hope we can go home soon." He really missed Isshin, Karin and Yuzu. But he also missed the opportunities for privacy, and how… safe his home had felt. It had probably been an illusion with Soul Society closing in, but the arrancar hideout just didn't feel as safe for his cubs. Too many of the arrancar had no use for children.

"I hope so too." Grimmjow said and Ichigo gave him a questioning look, hoping that he really meant it. Hueco Mundo was his home, after all. And Zangetsu had suggested just letting him come here to raise the babies. He'd thought Grimmjow would prefer it. "I miss the little woman, I miss the baths, I miss the hand crank… I mean, food processor… shit, I could go on forever." Grimmjow sighed and rested his hand on Ryuu's back. The baby was falling asleep now, his bone tail lashing. "I want to go home." That warmed Ichigo and he smiled before kissing his mate. The kiss was deep and passionate, displaying all of his feelings.

He was glad that Grimmjow thought of the real world as home.


	16. Happy Times

Grimmjow's eyes narrowed as he examined the holding facility.

The arrancar had recently discovered that the shinigami were taking some prisoners. They weren't sure why, although Szayel was of the opinion that Grimmjow's foray into baby making had probably interested them. Whatever the reason, they had some living arrancar. Some of them were from Harribel's forces, some were just the Numeros that had scattered to the winds after Aizen's defeat.

So now they were trying to rescue them. Harribel was leading her own expedition against a separate facility, and Grimmjow was attacking this one. Gantenbaine and Violetta, his best kido student, were with him. Kido was turning out to be a very rare talent among the arrancar. He also had a small group of Numeros under his command. None of them were terribly powerful but they were all ready and willing to do what it took to free their people.

Their people. That was a new thing, and Grimmjow knew it was Harribel's doing. She was really getting the arrancar to pull together, to look at each other as allies. Aizen had tried, but it had always been hard going. The fact that so many arrancar weren't too tightly wrapped, along with the way hollows generally cannibalized each other, didn't help. Harribel was having better luck, but she was dealing with a much smaller segment of the population than Aizen had been. Also, she actually believed it, which was more than anyone could say about the rogue shinigami.

So they were going to free their people. Grimmjow made a few quick hand gestures and his troops fanned out. They'd carefully scouted the place so they knew what they were dealing with. And they needed to act now, or the arrancar being held here would be taken off to Soul Society.

When they attacked, it was lightning swift. The shinigami manning the place were taken by surprise and quickly overwhelmed, except for the seated officer guarding the place. Grimmjow took him on personally. While he wasn't eager to kill, you did what you had to do, and he at least wounded the man severely. While he was handling that, the others were busy breaking the cages and freeing the other arrancar.

With his enemy bleeding and maybe dying on the ground, Grimmjow went to help the Numeros. His eyes hardened as he saw the state of some of the imprisoned arrancar, but he said nothing. It wasn't torture or even experimentation, just the wounds they'd taken being captured. Still, a lot of them couldn't walk.

"Can we get them all out?" He asked Gantenbainne, unsure what they would do if they couldn't. But fortunately the other arrancar nodded.

"There are enough of us, but we must hurry." Grimmjow nodded although he didn't need reminding. Carrying their wounded would slow them and make it hard if the shinigami launched a counterattack. He quickly found an injured Numero to carry – no one he knew, but from the look on the guy's face he definitely knew who was rescuing him – and waited until everyone was out before sonido'ing away. As they left, he reflected on the fact that the place had really been minimally guarded. The shinigami probably hadn't expected the arrancar to give a damn about their fellows. And if it were anyone but Harribel in charge, they would have been right.

Grimmjow hoped her mission was going well. He did not want to have to try to step into her shoes.

* * *

Several days later.

"Hey Ichigo, why are our cubs all sticky?" Grimmjow asked, clearly amused. Ichigo grimaced a little as Grimmjow picked up Masaki and began giving her a tongue bath.

"Oh, it was an interesting day… Kai head butted Masaki, she bit him, and Ryuu tugged on her hair. He seemed to be protecting Kai, so she bit him too. Nell came by and puked on them to stop the bleeding." He said, feeling mildly exhausted. Now that Masaki was walking, the two boys were trying hard to emulate her. It was tough enough keeping up with three active crawlers, when they started running around things were going to get interesting. "We might need a baby gate for the entrance." Otherwise all the arrancar would be getting very familiar with his offspring. Grimmjow chuckled.

"They'd climb over it." He predicted and Ichigo nodded ruefully. "My day was pretty interesting too. I had a shinigami stand right out there, waiting for my patrol to close in. He wanted to make an offer about negotiating a truce."

"What?!" Ichigo sat bolt upright, stunned. "Really? Are you serious?" That might open the eventual possibility that he and Grimmjow might get to go home. It was by no means certain – making peace with the arrancar didn't necessarily mean that Soul Society would let him and Grimmjow off the hook – but it was definitely a first step.

"Yep. We're going to be meeting with them in Los Noches." He said and Ichigo frowned as he realized his lover was worried. "I have a low, suspicious mind so I'm wondering if it might be a trap." He admitted and Ichigo shook his head.

"No, they wouldn't do that." He said definitively. "Shinigami do have a code of honor and violating peace talks isn't something they would do." Ichigo was sure of that. But Grimmjow just looked at him and he could see the concern in those bright blue eyes.

"Even with hollows? We're nothing to them, Ichigo." He said and Ichigo had to think hard about it. Grimmjow had a point. To shinigami, hollows were nothing but corrupted souls that needed to go on to the cycle of rebirth. Still…

"I can't see them breaking their word on that. It just doesn't seem to be in character." He finally said and Grimmjow nodded dubiously. "Are you going to be going?" He asked, hoping the answer was no. Grimmjow shook his head.

"No, Gantenbaine is going to be doing it." He said and Ichigo blinked. He'd have thought Harribel would go herself. "He's taking Violetta and some of the Numeros for backup. Harribel decided we can't risk losing any Espada to a possible trap." He said grimly and Ichigo frowned. That was rather hard on Gantenbaine and the others. But he could see Harribel's point… if it was a trap, even Grimmjow and Harribel together wouldn't have much chance of escaping against the entire Gotei 13.

"Who's Violetta?" He asked to distract himself and Grimmjow from that grim scenario. The arrancar smiled, then chuckled softly.

"One of my kido protégé's." He said and Ichigo nodded.

Grimmjow had been having mixed success trying to teach the arrancar kido. They had been able to figure out why Aizen hadn't bothered, though… most arrancar simply couldn't learn. The rogue shinigami had probably tried a few times, then given up. But with the knowledge that it could be done Grimmjow was more persistent, and he'd found a motley assortment of arrancar who had whatever special talent was necessary.

"She's actually my best student." Grimmjow said as he put Masaki down, reaching down to play a bit of a game with Ryuu. Ichigo smiled and did the same to Kai, so he wouldn't feel left out. "She was a pretty weak Numero until now, worked in the kitchens. She's bewildered but thrilled to finally have some power, heh." He smiled but the smile quickly faded. "I think I've figured out what the arrancar who can use kido have in common."

"Oh, what?" Ichigo asked curiously. Grimmjow didn't seem very happy about it, whatever it was.

"They've all eaten at least one shinigami." He said and Ichigo winced. "Mostly when they were basic hollows, and some of them ate a lot. I got at least five, maybe closer to eight. Violetta thinks she got three."

"Hollows eating shinigami must be pretty unusual, then." Ichigo said with a small frown, and Grimmjow nodded.

"Shinigami are usually very tough targets for a hollow. A few of my students had lucky kills, but Violetta was like me, she was small and dangerous as a basic hollow. It seems to be a blind spot for shinigami. They know that basic hollows get big as they get more powerful. A hollow that starts tiny and stays tiny throws them off." Grimmjow sounded amused now and Ichigo nodded. He'd never seen a tiny hollow in Karakura town, so they had to be very rare.

"That makes sense." Then he yawned. It was very hard to keep track of the time of day in Hueco Mundo, but he was tired. And apparently his yawns were communicable, because Masaki yawned a moment later. Then he blinked as warm arms slid around him.

"The babies ain't tired, but I'm sure you are. Go to sleep, I'll wear them out for a while." Grimmjow said and Ichigo smiled at him before curling up in the nest. He fell to sleep listening to the happy squeals of his children and the soft rumble of Grimmjow's voice.

He'd never felt this content in his life.

* * *

"Ichigo, wake up." Grimmjow said softly, gently shaking his mate's shoulder. "Kai's fussing." He'd noticed that Kai seemed a little off during the play, not as energetic as he usually was. But now it was something more.

"Mmm?" Ichigo frowned, pulling himself up. "What's he fussing about?" The teen asked and Grimmjow grimaced.

"He says his tummy hurts." Although the baby wasn't actually saying it, not with words. Szayel had been absolutely fascinated with Grimmjow's ability to read the babies, and after several tests he'd labeled it an advanced form of reiatsu sensing. He'd also commented that it was possibly the only advanced ability Grimmjow had. That had made the Espada want to remove his face, but he'd restrained himself. "Has he been eating well, lately?" They hadn't gotten any kills in quite a while, so the babies had been eating the soul putty.

"I honestly don't know." Ichigo admitted. "When I try to feed the boys, they always fight me and throw it around. I can never be sure how much they get." For a brief moment, Grimmjow wished he was the one taking care of the cubs. They loved their sire, but they just didn't respond to Ichigo the same way they did to him. He'd never say it to his mate, though.

"We better take him to Szayel." He muttered, gently picking up his boy. Kai nestled against him, tears welling up in his eyes as he whimpered softly. "And maybe the others too. Can you carry them?"

"Sure." Ichigo was looking very concerned now and quickly gathered up Masaki and Ryuu. They were both sleepy and took the transition to his arms well. Ryuu's tail looped around Ichigo's arm, too, which was rather cute.

Fortunately, Szayel was awake so they didn't have to disturb him. The scientist was working hard at some experiment but he was willing to abandon it to check over the cubs. Grimmjow watched him like a hawk as he ran some instruments over Kai, and Ichigo concentrated on keeping the other two happy. They'd woken up completely now, realizing where they were, and were threatening to cry. Neither of them liked being poked and prodded, which was what they associated the lab with. Kai was only whimpering, which alarmed Grimmjow a bit. Normally the baby would be crying up a storm.

"Hmm, interesting." Not exactly what Grimmjow wanted to hear and he growled softly to himself. Interesting could mean a horrible disease, in Szayel's vocabulary. "There appears to be nothing at all wrong with him."

"Huh?" Grimmjow blinked. How was that interesting? "But he thinks his tummy hurts." His cubs couldn't lie to him, not like that. Kai was definitely experiencing distress. Szayel nodded.

"I don't doubt you. It's psychosomatic. In other words, the pain is in his head." He said in a condescending tone and Grimmjow gritted his teeth. The fact that he needed the explanation only irritated him further. He wasn't stupid, but Szayel sure made him feel like it. "Now, the problem is that dumb animals and young children cannot be reasoned with. Adults are far easier to convince or trick, but a child only knows what he feels. That makes treating this particularly difficult."

"You're saying that he's reacting to the soul putty, and this is only going to get worse." Ichigo interrupted before Szayel could go into a long winded speech. The arrancar looked a little non-plussed about the interruption, but shrugged.

"Essentially, that is correct. I would venture to guess that he hasn't been eating well lately. He may start refusing the food altogether." Szayel said without the slightest hint of real concern. Grimmjow wanted to strangle him. Instead he picked up Kai and gently cuddled his son. "You might be able to feed him with your reiatsu, but if they all start reacting that way it could be difficult." Grimmjow nodded grimly, reminded of how much he'd needed when all three of the cubs were feeding from him. It was a lot of power.

"Ichigo can probably feed Kai for now." The fact that he shared a resonance with the baby would help. "But if they all start doing this, we're gonna have trouble." Grimmjow thought hard for a moment. "I can feed them, and my kido kids probably can too." He gently stroked soft orange hair, looking down at the boy in his arms. "We can make this work."

"Can they live on nothing but reiatsu, though?" Ichigo asked in concern, gently rocking Masaki and Ryuu. They were beginning to go back to sleep as they realized the attention was focused on Kai. "I know you could, but you weren't growing."

"That won't be a problem. The soul putty is essentially nothing but reiatsu, and they can survive on it." Szayel said and Ichigo looked relieved. "Now, if you could excuse me, I would like to get back to my experiment." The two parents beat a quick retreat, much to the relief of all of the children. When they were back in the nest, Grimmjow laid Kai out on the blankets.

"Did you want to try feeding him? His stomach might hurt partly because he's hungry." Grimmjow asked and Ichigo nodded, gently resting a hand on the baby and offering him power. Kai blinked and went still before smiling widely.

"Dah!" He exclaimed and Ichigo picked him up, cuddling the child to his chest. "Da… da!"

"His first word, right after he scared us. Kai, I love you." Ichigo said fondly and Grimmjow rested a hand on the cub's back, smiling. "I wonder who they mean when they say that?" It was an interesting question. Grimmjow shrugged.

"You, probably. I was reading some stuff on babies before we left, and this one article said that they have more trouble saying mama than dada. Just the way their mouths work. Sucks for all the moms in the world." He said with a grin. He didn't mind being called mama by the cubs. Although, if they went back to the Living world, he might need to think of something more gender appropriate. Otherwise it could get weird at the playground.

"Mmm…" Ichigo yawned, widely, and Grimmjow was reminded that their sleep had been interrupted. Gently settling all the babies back into their spot, Grimmjow evaluated their moods. Realizing that they were all wide awake, he grimaced and bit his thumb, drawing blood. After the mishap with Masaki he was a bit wary about doing this but there wasn't much choice. They needed their sleep and if the cubs were awake they wouldn't be getting it. A short time later all the children were sleeping and Grimmjow curled up beside Ichigo, smiling as he saw his mate was already dozing off. He looked so cute when he slept, his face completely relaxed and serene.

Grimmjow just watched him for a moment, enjoying the sense of peace, before closing his eyes and letting the quiet sound of Ichigo's breathing lull him to sleep.

* * *

"Damn it." Grimmjow rubbed his forehead, feeling weak and tired. Masaki toddled away, clearly in very high spirits. He'd just given her a reiatsu infusion, and she'd gobbled it up.

"This isn't working, is it." Ichigo said and Grimmjow glanced at him. The teen was looking almost as tired as he felt. "They're draining us too much."

"Yeah." Grimmjow leaned back against the wall and tried to think. As Szayel had predicted, the other two babies had finally refused the soul putty. And unfortunately, it had turned out that they wouldn't accept power from his kido students. Grimmjow wasn't sure why, hollow cubs usually weren't picky. But then, they weren't exactly hollows.

Unfortunately, they were still growing and they should have been weaned. Feeding them this way was tremendously taxing for their parents and most of the burden was falling on Ichigo. Grimmjow needed to be strong for his patrols and missions. He knew he was weakening himself dangerously as it was.

"We have to get them some real food." He said and glanced at Ichigo. "I think I'll have to go to the Living world." The teen made a small, protesting sound then bit his lip. "We can't have hunting parties scattered to hell and back." They were still at war with the shinigami. So far they'd had a few peace talks, but the shinigami had all kinds of interesting demands that Harribel wasn't sure about. They wanted all the arrancar to live in Los Noches, for one thing. The reasons they gave were pretty interesting. Apparently, they wanted to foster good relations between the two races. In particular, they wanted the next generation to be exposed to friendly shinigami. Grimmjow could see their point, but he could see Harribel's too. The arrancar could be easily wiped out if they were all concentrated in one place. "And going to Soul Society is just too damned dangerous." That would be a daft idea. Grimmjow knew how Aizen had gotten his supplies, but he and Harribel didn't have the same contacts the rogue shinigami had. And he'd paid for it with money he'd embezzled from Soul Society, which they also didn't have access to.

"If they catch you in the Living world…" Ichigo said grimly and Grimmjow nodded. That was the danger. "I want to go with you. We can leave the kids with Nel for a while." He said, determined, and Grimmjow scowled.

"We can't do that! What if we both get caught? No one else can feed the cubs." He thought that was simply out of the question but Ichigo was looking stubborn. "Harribel would have to surrender them to the shinigami and who knows what that scientist freak would do with 'em. He's as bad as Szayel." Ichigo had plenty of stories about Mayuri. Szayel had been very interested to hear Ishida's account of how he'd been defeated by the scientist. He'd regularly copied his memories to his clone, but naturally he hadn't gotten in his final moments, so the clone couldn't remember any of it. Ichigo bit his lip as he thought about that.

"Shit. Why do you have to be right?" He muttered then hugged Grimmjow, giving him a deep kiss. "Don't you dare die on me." He said fiercely, which made the arrancar grin.

"No dying, you got it." He said playfully. Then there was a sudden howl and both the young parents winced. "What now?" He glanced over his children and laughed as he saw what was happening. It seemed Ryuu had finally lost it, and he was trying to pummel Kai with his little fists. The other boy was squalling and trying to hide from his enraged brother. "Kids." He went to grab Ryuu while Ichigo retrieved a slightly bruised Kai. "No wonder he was pissed! Kai, you gotta stop head butting." Ryuu had a few puncture wounds, which Grimmjow licked. Kai could just live with his bruises. His saliva didn't work well on them anyway. "I think we should read you guys a story, get you calmed down." They had some children's books. Grimmjow enjoyed reading them to his children.

"That sounds good, I'll get Masaki." Ichigo gently set Kai down in front of Grimmjow before retrieving the girl. She didn't want to go, and was carried over still clutching two blocks, one in either hand. "Ah, cub, you like stories… here we go." Grimmjow selected a story about a fairy princess. It was a modern story, so it was much sweeter than some of the ones Kai had told him. But he still gave it a twist at the end. "…And they all lived happily ever after until everyone died. The end." He concluded. The babies all looked mesmerized, probably by his voice. They couldn't understand everything yet. Ichigo laughed and picked up Kai, giving him a tickle and making him squeal.

"Why do you always end your stories that way?" He asked and Grimmjow smiled, a touch sadly as he put the book away.

"That's how my lover always ended the stories he told, back when I was a living man." It had always made him laugh, hearing that little comment. And that laugh had often led to a kiss, which had led to other things. "He said it was the way his father told stories when he was little." Grimmjow felt like he was carrying on a tradition, almost. Ichigo smiled and gave him a kiss. It started innocent but quickly got heated and Grimmjow wished they could do something more, but the cubs were wide awake and squirmy.

So instead of doing something else, they played with the children and got to hear Ryuu say 'no' a lot. The cub had just discovered the word and was using it constantly, even at times when it made no sense. It was pretty hilarious, really. They could ask him if he wanted ice cream and the answer was still no.

"Not that we have any ice cream, but you make no sense at all cub." Grimmjow ruffled blue hair with a grin. Then he began to tussle gently with his son as Ichigo chased a happy Kai around the den. Masaki just concentrated on her blocks, bringing her dreams to life.

It was a good day with the cubs.


	17. Not So Happy Times

Grimmjow grimaced as his team of thieves quickly smashed through the grocery store.

He didn't much like being a thief. He'd done it before, of course. He hadn't had much choice, growing up on the streets and trying to look after his baby sister. They'd needed to survive and anything he could do to make that happen had been fair game. But he'd been stolen from plenty of times, and he knew the bitter sting of loss. So Grimmjow did not much care for thievery.

But he had no choice. It was late at night and they couldn't wait for the store to open even if they had money to pay for things, which they didn't. Grimmjow quickly showed two of his accomplices the diapers, before taking the others with him to the baby food. Showing was easier than explaining, especially with a bunch of numerous who'd never seen the Living World.

They shovelled jars and diapers into their bags and boxes. Plenty of carrying items had made it to Harribel's hideout, relics from when she'd been moving things from Los Noches. Then when they had as much as they could carry, Grimmjow began forming the garganta. He hurried it as much as he could. He could feel soul reaper energy approaching.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they stepped through the garganta and Grimmjow paused a moment to check over his forces and count noses. Gantenbainne was there, along with five other Numeros. Not very powerful but reliable, they were all perfect for something that required speed and not much else. They had enough food to last the babies for months, especially if they mixed it with the tofu. He and Ichigo were hopeful that the soul putty could be camouflaged by real food to stretch their supplies.

"Okay gang, let's get going." He said before leading the way down the garganta. He was a powerful arrancar, so it wouldn't take them long to navigate it. They would be home in no time.

When they were almost there, Grimmjow suddenly stopped. Glancing down, he eyed the gloopy 'floor' with suspicion. They were all floating above it, which was completely normal. The grey stuff below him looked normal too. So what was bothering him? Then he suddenly realized the goop was moving and that was not normal at all. His gaze darted to the walls of the path and he examined them before cursing softly.

"What is it, Grimmjow-sama?" Gantenbaine sounded nervous, but hearing Grimmjow swearing would do that. Grimmjow controlled himself and gave the other arrancar a tight smile before gesturing at the walls.

"Something is warping the garganta." He said as calmly as he could and Gantenbaine's eyes widened before he examined the walls and the goo for himself. The effect was clear when it was pointed out. Until then, it was pretty subtle. "I'm not sure what to do." This had to be some kind of scientific thing and the shinigami had to be the culprits. Probably Szayel's equivalent, that Mayuri person. Gantenbainne swallowed as he admitted that but Grimmjow wasn't afraid to solicit opinions. "Ideas?"

"We could go back." One of the numeros said tentatively. Grimmjow considered it and shook his head.

"There were soul reapers closing in on us. Taichou or taichou-level and at least three." He said and everyone winced. Grimmjow quietly drummed his fingers against his thigh, just thinking for a moment. All his options sucked. He could go back to the Living World and take on those taichou… but then they'd have to come back anyway, and the warping effect would likely still be there. He couldn't run to Urahara's place. The shopkeeper wasn't part of this shit and Grimmjow wasn't going to drag him into it. "We have to go forward. Here's the plan." He shrugged out of his backpack and gave it to a puzzled Gantenbainne. "You can carry two right? Good. As soon as we make it out all of you run like hell. I'll stay behind to hold them off."

"But… but you'll be killed!" One of the numeros, a woman named Yannaka, protested. Grimmjow glanced at her thoughtfully but she met his gaze without fear. "If there are three taichou behind us there will be at least that many in front. We should all run. We're faster than shinigami." She sounded way too confident and Grimmjow grimaced.

"You haven't seen Ichigo move in bankai. And that pretty guy took out Zommari, and he was supposed to be the fastest Espada. You Numeros wouldn't stand a chance." Grimmjow glanced over the others. He could tell they agreed with him.

"Ichigo and Harribel will kill us." Gantenbainne muttered. "But I cannot see any way out of this trap. Are you certain? We would not hesitate to die beside you." He offered and Grimmjow smiled. That was sweet, in a hollow sort of way.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Get that food to the kids. And tell Ichigo…" Grimmjow hesitated. This would likely hurt the teen more, but he had to say it. "Tell Ichigo that I love him." Then he turned away. "Come on, let's go." They were as ready as they could get.

Just before they came out, Grimmjow drew Pantera and assumed his resurrection. That made his hold on the garganta a bit more difficult but he managed, and then they were in the sands of Hueco Mundo. He couldn't tell where they were, just that it was not the spot that he'd been aiming for. The Numeros and Privaron Espada darted off like a flock of birds as Grimmjow filled the air with his reiatsu, a flat out challenge to the shinigami.

They did not disappoint, but Grimmjow was ready for them. The first thing he cast was a kido of illusion, to confuse them on where the other arrancar were going. None of the shinigami were expecting kido from him, so it succeeded beautifully, buying Gantenbainne and the others critical time to escape.

Then it all went to shit. He wasn't facing three taichou, but five. Grimmjow attacked viciously, but the laughing lunatic with the eyepatch seemed to love it. Then he had to duck and roll as two blades tried to impale him. And there were little pink things floating around, which all his instincts said were bad news. Bone armor protected him somewhat, but the slashes he was getting were not good.

"MotherFUCKERS!" He snarled as he shot off his claws before resorting to kido again. "Break-Piercing Triple Beam!" He shot that off at the lone taichou who'd managed to break through his illusion kido and was trying to go after Gantenbainne and the others. He was taken by surprise and was pinned to the ground, but the moment of inattention cost the Espada dearly. That long, brutally sharp sword cut deeply into his back before Grimmjow could leap forward. Then sakura petals poured over him and he cursed as he felt his hierro weakening. There was only so much of this he could take.

"It uses kido! You absolutely must secure it alive!" Someone sounded excited and Grimmjow snarled.

"I'm not a fucking 'it'!" He roared back just before kido hit him. "Euuragh!" This was a more advanced kido than any he'd seen. Fabric strips crossed his body and knocked him to the ground before little tiles of iron landed on the edges of the strips, weighing them down. It looked almost beautiful but that was deceptive. It was actually a binding of incalculable power. Grimmjow snarled and did the only thing he could do.

He mustered his rage. The rage that had made him fearsome even as a basic hollow, and terrifying as an adjuchas. The rage that had begun with his hard life, honed with his death and been given free rein in Hueco Mundo. A scream built and then he released it, the shockwaves sending sand flying as he struggled against the bindings, slowly pulling himself to his feet. Iron tiles began to pop out as the binding began to shatter –

And then a block landed on his back. Grimmjow hit the ground with agonizing force and gasped before coughing up a mouthful of blood. It felt like his organs were being crushed. But even against that incredible weight his rage still flickered and he tried to push himself up. That caused the pressure to increase and his shaking arms finally gave out, leaving him flat on his stomach again. He coughed up another mouthful of blood before preparing to try again –

"Stop that, you stupid animal! You'll kill yourself. Nemu, the sedative!" Grimmjow lifted his head with a snarl and tried to bite the woman kneeling beside him. She avoided him easily, gripping his hair to secure him in place, then jabbed him with a needle right in the neck. His ears flicked and then he blinked as he was suddenly very, very sleepy. Grimmjow dropped his head to the ground, vaguely aware of his resurrection fading. Then the crushing weight was gone, but he could not take advantage of the lack. "We have secured a wonderful test subject! Nemu…" That was the last thing he heard before the tiredness overcame him.

* * *

"Now, what to do with you?" Mayuri rubbed his hands together gleefully as he considered the sleeping arrancar. He was lying on a cold metal table, completely oblivious to the tools and equipment scattered around him. There were no restraints, and Kurotsuchi wasn't worried about him waking up. The drugs he was using were quite effective. "Hmmm." Dissection was not on the table. From what he'd learned, this particular arrancar had mothering instincts and the capacity to reproduce. That made him far too valuable to throw away. "I think we'll proceed with experiment B9." He said cheerfully before going to a special containment unit. "I'll have to see which one of these suits you best." Mayuri murmured as he sorted through the little vials. They each contained a very powerful reiatsu, but they were all quite distinct from each other. "I can't wait to see if this works." He honestly had no idea if it would.

But it would be very interesting to find out.

* * *

Grimmjow awoke feeling warm and safe.

That feeling was an illusion, of course. But for a moment, he thought he was in Ichigo's closet. It was dark and there was a nice warm blanket draped over him, tucked in around him. Ichigo had probably done that, and the cubs would be waking up soon…

That thought brought him back to reality as he realized there was no comforting weight from little bodies, curled up around him and pinning him in place. A quick, worried reiatsu check sent him bolt upright as he registered there were no cubs… and his senses could not penetrate past this room. He tried to do a kido to give himself light and blinked as nothing happened. Then Grimmjow frowned, turning his attention on himself.

There was something restraining him, but it was nothing like the collar Ichigo's hollow had forced him to wear. His reiatsu was all there, as powerful as ever, but he was unable to grasp it or manipulate it in any way. Grimmjow hissed as he remembered what had happened, the taichou he had fought with and the kido that had finally brought him down. Then he frowned. While he wasn't eager to wake up in a torture chamber, chained to the wall, this room was too… nice. His eyes had adapted to the darkness and he could see he had a very nice bed mat with a warm blanket and a pillow. The rest of the room contained a couch and a bathroom. There were a few signs that this wasn't a normal room – the couch was bolted to the floor – but it was still reasonably comfortable.

Then the lights began to come on. It was very gradual, a slow lightening that allowed his eyes time to adjust. Again, Grimmjow frowned. That consideration was very odd. He tried to think like Szayel for a moment – both difficult and distasteful – and try to figure out why they would treat him so gently.

"A long term experiment?" He hazarded as the illumination reached full daylight. Szayel would sometimes treat a subject carefully if they needed to stay healthy for some reason. Grimmjow glanced over himself, wondering what the shinigami –

His blood turned to ice as he saw his hollow hole. It was dead in the centre of his chest, a familiar position but not a welcome one. He ran his hands over his completed six pack and blanched as he felt the familiar thrum of energy there. No, not familiar. This was not Ichigo's reiatsu. He had no idea who the reiatsu belonged to, although he could tell it was powerful.

"You motherfuckers! I'm going to tear you apart!" He grabbed the pillow and threw it against the wall so hard that it split, sending feathers flying. "You bastard, you…" Grimmjow let his rage have voice, telling Kurotsuchi exactly what he thought of him in his most colorful vocabulary.

Eventually, though, he ran out of curses and stood there panting. He was tempted to destroy the couch and the bed, utterly demolish the room, but cold practicality held him back. He wasn't guaranteed to be getting new ones and his new… new cubs would need a den. Grimmjow placed a hand over his stomach, feeling sick at the thought.

He couldn't expect Ichigo to help him with this. It was a miracle Kurosaki was there for him with his first three cubs, how could he accept a new litter sired by another man? At least, Grimmjow assumed it was a man. Apparently this Mayuri person was even sicker than Szayel, so it was possible he'd been impregnated with something else. Just the thought made him feel violently ill. Pacing the room, he tried to think, unaware of the fact that his reiatsu and vital signs were both being monitored. And the ones monitoring them didn't like what they were seeing.

"Tch. All the signs of stress." Kurotsuchi sighed as he looked over the readings. He'd created this environment specifically to avoid causing the subject too much stress. Of course, he would ruin all the effort. "Nemu, inject the air with a mild tranquilizing agent." Hopefully that would calm the test subject slightly without rendering him unconscious. Nemu nodded dutifully and pressed a few buttons.

Inside his well-furnished cage, Grimmjow began to feel a bit better. Not good, but calmer. Sighing, he sat down on the couch. What would he do? The only real option that occurred to him was to leave Masaki, Ryuu and Kai with Ichigo and raise these new cubs… elsewhere. The thought made his heart hurt but there was no way he could take care of two litters at the same time.

"This is a nightmare." He mumbled to himself then took a deep breath. "Okay, calm down. You have to get out of this trap first." If he couldn't get away from the shinigami, all his worries about his new litter and old litter would be pointless. That thought helped centre him and he got up, slowly prowling around his prison and looking it over. There were no obvious weak points, but he hadn't expected any. Then there was a faint sound from the door and he turned to look. Grimmjow blinked as he realized a tray of food had been slid through a small drawer set in the bottom of the door. He walked over and inspected the covered tray, frowning at the small note beside it. He picked it up and slowly read it. "When you are done eating, please put the dishes in the tray to be cleaned. What the fuck?" Grimmjow said before pulling the lid off to examine the food.

It looked like completely ordinary food. Breakfast foods, in fact, and very familiar ones. Congee with just a touch of pork, it was the kind of thing he and Yume would have eaten when things were going well. Shrugging to himself Grimmjow picked up the bowl of rice porridge. It probably wouldn't do him much good but his strength was badly drained. He needed something to keep himself going.

A few bites told him he was wrong. Grimmjow stared at the congee, surprised. It was deeply infused with reiatsu and satisfied his hunger as well as any of Ichigo's reiatsu infusions had. It still wasn't as good as an adjuchas kill but he could live on it.

"That scientist must have made it." That was comforting, sort of. At least he wasn't going to starve to death. Sighing to himself, he kept eating and finished the food. Interestingly, the reiatsu made it taste better. When he'd eaten food at Ichigo's it had often seemed bland, probably his bodies' way of telling him it wouldn't nourish him. More out of concern for keeping the den clean than anything, he put the dish in the drawer and watched it vanish. "…Hmph." Grimmjow ran a hand through blue hair, thinking for a moment. Then he yawned widely, blinking rapidly. Why was he so tired all of a sudden?

"Oh, digestion." His body wanted him to sleep while it took in the food. Shrugging to himself, Grimmjow went back to the bed. Although he wished it had more blankets and more pillows. In fact, any pillow. Why had he been stupid enough to break his only pillow? Grumbling at his own idiocy Grimmjow burrowed into the nest.

For now he would rest. He'd try to think of a way out of this later.

* * *

"Oh Nemu, what is it now?" Kurotsuchi asked as he glanced at his monitor. His new experimental subject was showing signs of boredom, pacing his room and kicking things. Perhaps a book or two might help to calm him? Mayuri sighed to himself. Normally he didn't concern himself with the feelings of his subjects, but this one's condition was particularly delicate. "Wait, why have you brought CA1 and CA3?" He frowned at the little bundles in Nemu's arms. She looked down at them sadly.

"Subject D3872 has refused to care for them any longer." She reported and Mayuri froze in rage. "She says she will not tolerate the little parasites an instant more."

"What! I will…" Then a thought suddenly occurred to him and he glanced at the monitors. It was a long shot – hollows were not noted for altruism – but if it didn't work then nothing would be lost. "Hmmm." He stroked his chin with his long nails, watching as the arrancar collapsed onto the couch, kicking his legs. "And it would be diverting for him… yes. Nemu, come with me." He started out purposefully with his fukutaichou following behind obediently.

He would test the limits of this arrancar's 'maternal' instincts.

* * *

Grimmjow was not expecting the door to open.

He was on his feet instantly, trying to attack. It was stupid, he knew it was stupid, but he simply had to try. He had all his hierro and his strength so maybe…

"Tch." The shinigami taichou fended him off easily and Grimmjow snarled as he saw the painted face and golden teeth. "You are only embarrassing yourself, arrancar. And causing stress for the infants. Please, restrain yourself."

"What the fuck did you knock me up with?" Grimmjow growled, circling the man. Mayuri turned to match him easily.

"A shinigami, of course." He said with a grin and Grimmjow froze for a moment before growling. He was actually secretly relieved it was something relatively normal. "And a taichou class reiatsu at that. Only the best for my second Espada!"

"Wait, second?" Grimmjow asked, surprised. He'd caught another Espada? But they were all supposed to be dead except for him and Harribel, and he was sure she hadn't been captured. "Who – what?" There was a soft meeping sound and Grimmjow's head turned like it was on a string. The fukutaichou behind Kurotsuchi was carrying two cloth wrapped bundles. "What the hell do you have there?"

"Now, now, you shouldn't swear around the children." Mayuri chided him but Grimmjow didn't spare any attention for the nutcase. He went to Nemu's side and she tilted the bundles so he could see the contents.

She was holding babies. One of them had purple hair, while the other had dark brown. Two girls, he could tell just from the scent. And he was horrified by their condition. Things had been rough for him and Yume, and Grimmjow knew all too well what a starving baby looked like. These two weren't quite that bad, but they were not doing well. He'd seen Yume in that condition a few times.

"What the… give them here." He muttered to the girl, reaching out to take the babies. As he took them he felt something strange under the blanket, something hard. But he'd look into that later. "Damn it." He breathed before closing his eyes. Both the children were making sad little meeps now, begging for food in the most pathetic way possible. The sounds went straight to his instincts, demanding that he take care of them.

But his body didn't want to cooperate. He was in the middle of making new life and the last thing his body wanted to do was generate 'milk.' But Grimmjow was not having that. It took serious concentration, but he convinced his body to accept the cubs. When he was fairly sure it would work, he raised one of the infants to his chest.

Soft sucking sounds filled the room and the other baby began meeping more urgently, afraid she was being left out. Grimmjow opened his eyes and looked at her. Her hair was brown and her eyes were a soft grey color. That seemed vaguely familiar but he put it aside, lifting her up and guiding her to his other nipple. The woman shinigami helped him a little getting them positioned.

"Excellent! Now we have no more need for D3872. Perhaps I'll dissect her. She's been quite annoying." Mayuri said with a grin and Grimmjow looked up with a scowl.

"You knocked up an insect. What the fuck did you expect?" He said sourly. He hadn't looked at them yet, but now he was sure the hard things he was feeling were wing cases, like the ones you would see on a beetle. "They have less than zero maternal instinct. I'm surprised they're still alive." Most insects would rather eat their young than care for them.

"Well, there were three initially. There was an incident… but I'm sure that won't be repeated now." He said cheerfully and Grimmjow growled. "These two will be staying with you. Take good care of them, they're the first offspring of two arrancar."

"Fucking scientist." Grimmjow muttered, feeling his rage flaring. But he kept it sternly under control. He was holding two babies who were eagerly sucking down his energy, the last thing he could do right now was attack this bastard. "Look, I'll take care of them but I have some demands."

"Demands? You are in no position to make demands, arrancar." Mayuri said, crossing his arms and Grimmjow glared back, completely unintimidated.

"If you want me to take care of them properly, there are things I need. Do you want these cubs to live or not?" He snapped and the scientist suddenly grinned. He had the creepiest grin Grimmjow had ever seen, and he'd seen some doozies in Los Noches.

"Oh, those kinds of demands. Very well, what do you need arrancar?" He asked.

"My name is Grimmjow." That arrancar bit was getting annoying. "And I need more blankets and pillows. Lots of them, to make a proper nest." Mayuri glanced at the broken pillow. Grimmjow had gathered up the pieces and feathers and put them in a corner. The Espada bristled a little at the silent criticism. "I was upset. Anyway, I also need more of that food. Lots of it and more than three meals, or I might stop producing 'milk'. My body won't let me feed these two if it'll abort the new cubs." He warned the scientist who nodded.

"Yes, of course. Quite reasonable. Is there anything else you need?" He asked and Grimmjow shook his head. His needs were really quite simple. "Very well. We will leave you to it then. Come Nemu." They both exited the room and Grimmjow thought about trying to bolt through the door after them. But he caught the web of kido around it and sighed to himself. It would catch him. Instead he watched the door shut before taking the cubs with him to the couch.

"Poor little things." He murmured, looking at them. They were both wan and pale from malnutrition. He took a moment to examine the first one more carefully. She had violet hair, matching eyes and a piece of bone around her throat. It looked like a rather pretty necklace. Grimmjow waited patiently until they were both done eating before pulling away the blankets. "Ah." As he'd thought, they both had wing cases. To his surprise, they were gloriously colored, a mingling of brilliant turquoise and green. "Hmmm." That made him wonder if these cubs might be poisonous. Insect cubs sometimes had that trait, to help them survive in the sands alone. Interestingly, he couldn't find any hollow holes They were shivering without their blankets, though, and Grimmjow quickly bundled them both back up. "Let's get you to the nest." It wasn't much of a nest, but between his body heat and the single blanket they would be warm. And he had to take care of them.

It was part of his nature.


	18. Help Has Arrived

It was three days later when the babies were taken from him.

At least, Grimmjow assumed it was three days. The lights rose and dimmed according to what he assumed were natural light patterns, and he'd taken to counting them and making marks on the wall with his nails.

He'd tried everything he could think of to escape. He could mar the surface of the walls, but they were far too tough for him to break without a cero. There were vents, but they were all too small for the babies, let alone his bulkier body. He'd tried the door but of course, it was too strong. There were plenty of ways for him to kill himself – the bathroom had a mirror – but he wasn't that desperate. And Kurotsuchi had clearly calculated that he wouldn't be.

Finally, his options exhausted, Grimmjow had settled into his new 'home'. The scientist actually seemed to be caring for him well, probably out of concern for what he was carrying. The Espada was getting five meals a day, and they were varied and tasty. Nemu had brought him all the blankets and pillows his heart could desire. All he was missing was his own children and Ichigo's comforting reiatsu. And, of course, his freedom.

Grimmjow was lying on the bed, both babies nestled on top of him. The little violet girl was on his chest, not bothered at all by his hollow hole, while the brown haired cub was lying on his stomach. Their wing cases were relatively small, only going halfway down their backs. Grimmjow glanced down at them with a smile as one of the babies wiggled and the case opened, tiny wings spreading. They looked like gossamer lace, as brightly colored as a dragonfly.

Then the door opened. Grimmjow looked up with a frown as the sad faced girl entered the room. He tensed, sitting up and pulling the cubs against him. He didn't know what she wanted but he didn't like this one little bit.

"I am here for the babies, Grimmjow-kun. They need a checkup." She said, having the courtesy to use his name. It didn't stop him from bristling and holding the cubs tight against him. They whimpered softly, sensing his upset emotions.

"They're not going anywhere without me." He said firmly but Nemu shook her head.

"I am sorry Grimmjow-kun but Kurotsuchi-taichou does not want your reiatsu interacting with theirs." She said and Grimmjow snarled. He knew it was a valid complaint, though. He didn't have any control over his power and that should have prevented him from using his 'mothering instinct' on the cubs. But it wasn't, which led Grimmjow to believe that his advanced reiatsu sensing really was instinctive, much like his hierro. "They will not be harmed. Please give them to me."

"Like hell – argh!" He couldn't even follow her movement as she used shunpo to grab him and jam a needle in his throat. The tiny thing had been designed with hierro in mind and it penetrated his natural defences easily. "Bitch…" He snarled as he tried to get out of his bed, still holding the cubs. They were crying now, sensing his pain and distress. But the drug overcame him quickly and Grimmjow settled back, clutching weakly as Nemu extracted the infants from his grasp.

"They will be returned to you soon, Grimmjow-kun." She assured him just before he passed out.

* * *

"Grimmjow. Can you say Grimmjow, Ryuu?" Ichigo asked softly. His little boy looked at him with big brown eyes before smiling widely.

"No!" He said, which was likely a truthful response, even if he'd said it just because he didn't understand the question. Ichigo laughed and picked up his little son, cuddling him close.

"Yeah, no to you too." He murmured affectionately, ruffling sky blue hair. The sight of that hair made his heart hurt. He wanted nothing more than to see Grimmjow again, touch the hair that perfectly matched Ryuu's, hold him…

But it was not to be. Gantenbainne and the others had reported what had happened and Grimmjow's gallant sacrifice. There was a remote chance he'd been captured alive but no one really believed it. No, he was dead and Ichigo had to accept that. The wound was still painfully raw, though.

A few tears escaped and he rubbed them away before the babies could see. They were very sensitive to his moods and at first they'd been utterly inconsolable, feeding on his pain. Ichigo had forced himself to function for them, forced himself to put aside his feelings and care for them. He wondered if they understood what had happened. Ryuu and Kai had recovered their good cheer relatively quickly, but Masaki would sometimes just sit looking at the door to the room. As if she was waiting for something. And when that something didn't come she would finally start to fuss and Ichigo would need to comfort her.

"Ichigo-sama?" There was a soft voice at the door and Ichigo looked up with a blink. The arrancar there was familiar but for a moment he couldn't place her. Then he remembered. This was Violetta, Grimmjow's kido protégé. He took a moment to examine her.

Violetta Kuroikazi was a very short woman who almost reminded him of Rukia. Her lustrous black hair was about the same length, but parted differently and pulled to one side with a silver clip. That single piece of silver reminded him of Byakuya's hair clips, although it had to be a coincidence. She wore no lipstick or makeup and her eyes were a remarkable shade of deep indigo. Sometimes they almost seemed to shift colors, becoming more blueish or more violet. Her hollow mask fragments were a bracket around her left eye with a band leading from it that crossed over her head. It reminded Ichigo of an eyepatch, but her eye was still there. Her hollow hole was hidden beneath her dress, but he happened to know it was in her left shoulder. She wore a long dress that reminded him of the one Orihime had worn when she'd been a prisoner of the arrancar. It didn't seem to hinder her movements any despite the length. Right now she was looking tired and he nodded to her, smiling encouragingly.

"Hi Violetta. Here to play with the kids?" He asked and she shook her head but knelt down anyway, picking up some blocks and setting them on top of Masaki's current work, to her delight.

"I really came to speak to you. Things aren't very good right now. The negotiations have come to a roadblock." Violetta said, reaching up to play with the silver clip in her hair as she watched Masaki try to add a final block, balanced between the top two. It wasn't easy since the little girl had to stand to reach that far. She finally fell forward and the whole structure collapsed, blocks falling around her. "Oh dear." She murmured but Masaki wasn't the least bit put out. She just laughed and pulled herself out of the mess to start building up her blocks again. "How sweet… yes, we're having a difficult time coming to terms. Our… recent losses aren't helping." Violetta looked even wearier then, if it was possible. Ichigo looked away from her, feeling a sharp stab of pain. "Harribel wants to know. If the children are cared for, will you help us against the shinigami?"

"Yes." He replied instantly. There was no hesitation left. The arrancar were not all good people but they didn't deserve to be hunted down like mad dogs. "But who will look after them?" Food wasn't a problem now. The real food did an excellent job of covering up the soul putty and the children were willing to eat it again. But he wasn't going to trust them to just anyone.

"Myself for one. Gantenbainne, Mila Rose, Nel and Apacci have all volunteered to help out as well." She said with a smile and Ichigo nodded, thinking about it. They were all people who had been in to play with the kids. Mila Rose was a touch standoffish, probably because she hated being typecast as a nurturing cat, but the truth was that she loved children. Apacci loved them too, surprisingly. The hot headed arrancar enjoyed chasing the boys around, especially.

"Alright. When should I start?" He asked and Violetta's smile widened at the acceptance.

"Tomorrow. I'll take the first shift with the babies. I need a rest." She said ruefully and Ichigo nodded, although he knew the babies would keep her on her toes. But nothing like the shinigami would. "Thank you, Ichigo. We know how hard it will be to go against your friends."

"Not that hard." He said harshly, remembering his loss. Although what would he do if he ran into Rukia or Renji? He would have to do what he could to spare them. It wasn't their fault this had happened.

So the next day he went on his first mission as one of the arrancar. They were harassing Soul Societies' supply lines, trying to make life unbearable for the invaders without confronting them directly. It was a canny move but also one that screamed of weakness. A strong enemy wouldn't have to resort to tactics like this but it didn't matter. The arrancar were outnumbered and out powered, they couldn't afford any direct confrontations.

Ichigo's group had no problems completely destroying the supply train they attacked. They killed several shinigami and badly wounded many others, and he regretted that. But it was war and his arrancar did not come out unscathed. One was dead and two were badly hurt when they set the supply wagons on fire, watching them burn until they were fully engulfed. Then they vanished into the sands, leaving the shinigami to salvage what they could.

Ichigo scowled to himself as they went back home, carefully covering their tracks. The shinigami would call him a traitor now for certain, if they weren't already. But he couldn't bring himself to care. There was an angry darkness in his heart, a rage he could not shake.

Nothing would bring Grimmjow back but he could still strike out at the ones who had taken his lover away from him.

* * *

When Grimmjow awoke again, the babies had been returned to him.

They were both huddled up against his body on the bed, meeping for food. The little violet girl was even trying to crawl onto him to get at his nipples, but she was simply too young to manage it. Slowly shaking off the grogginess that came from being drugged, Grimmjow picked them both up and brought them to his chest to nurse. Then he glanced around the room.

He was utterly shocked to see the scientist sitting on the couch and watching him. Inwardly he cursed himself for letting the babies distract him from his surroundings. That kind of lack of attention could be fatal in Hueco Mundo.

"You really are an excellent mother." The weirdo said with a grin and Grimmjow scowled. He was the dam, not a mother! "They've already gained almost three ounces. Excellent progress for only three days! Now, I have a few questions for you."

"I'm not telling you shit." Grimmjow replied immediately. The shinigami could poke and prod at him but he couldn't force him to talk, not unless he wanted to risk him losing the cubs at least. The freak's grin widened in a way that was really, really disturbing.

"Oh, I think you will arrancar." Grimmjow growled at him, wishing he didn't have two cubs sucking at his chest. He'd really like to punch this asshole in the nuts. Although without sonido there wasn't much chance of that happening anyway. "You know, I don't really need AC1 and AC3. Just one of them would do." Grimmjow frowned, not quite understanding. AC1 and AC3? "And I have so many empty specimine bottles. So, which one would you prefer to keep, arrancar?"

"What?" He asked, unable to process what he was hearing. Then he stiffened, glancing down at the children in horror. "Don't you dare touch them you sick freak!" He curled around the children protectively, glaring at the bastard. He really was just like Szayel.

"Then answer my questions, arrancar. How did you learn to use kido?" He asked and Grimmjow took a deep breath before detailing how he'd decided to try it and found that he was good at it. He didn't like mentioning Urahara but they already knew he was involved. "How many other arrancar can use kido?"

"Six." He growled, looking down as one of the cubs let go of his nipple with a small popping sound. It was the brown haired one and she gave him a happy smile before snuggling her head against him and closing her eyes. The other one was still suckling energy from him. "It's an uncommon talent."

"Hmm. Are there any common attributes between these arrancar?" Kurotsuchi asked and Grimmjow considered lying. But he didn't think he could get away with it. This guy was smarter than him and he'd never been a very good liar.

"They all ate at least one shinigami, mostly when they were basic hollows." He said reluctantly and the freak looked very interested. "Some of them ate several."

"Fascinating! Is there a difference in strength between the ones who ate more and the ones who ate less?" He asked and Grimmjow nodded. He'd noticed that Violetta and himself were much stronger in kido than most of the others. The questions went on and on, but to his relief they weren't about tactical things. Instead, it was things the scientist cared about, details about the kido kids and his own cubs. Mayuri wanted every detail about the triplets, including how they had been conceived. Grimmjow gave him the information in a clipped tone, struggling not to think about it. Who would want to remember that? "Well, I think that's enough for now." He stood and the door opened, admitting Nemu. "However, it is time for your own checkup. Put AC1 and AC3 to bed and come with us." He said and Grimmjow hesitated before obeying. The cubs would be safe enough without him.

That meant he couldn't even try to escape, though. The poor things would starve without him and that was just not happening. Grimmjow submitted to the tests with ill grace, gritting his teeth as kido touched him. It wouldn't have bothered him if it was Urahara, but Kurotsuchi was not the slightly weird but friendly shopkeeper.

"Your pregnancy is progressing quite well." The gold toothed freak said cheerfully as he studied the results. "It hasn't been long of course. I can't even be sure how many you're carrying, but the reiatsu is just glowing with good health. Excellent!" He started babbling about things Grimmjow didn't understand then and the arrancar just waited until there was a break in the torrent of information.

"You said you used a taichou class reiatsu on me. Whose was it?" He asked, really hoping it wasn't the freak across from him. But the taichou just brushed the question off.

"I have no idea. I just used the one that resonated with your reiatsu best." He said and Grimmjow frowned. Resonated? "Well, that will be all for today. Let's get you back to AC1 and AC3. Although they don't show any signs of distress when you're gone, curious." The shinigami glanced at another monitor and Grimmjow followed his look, seeing the two cubs in it. They were curled up together in their warm nest of blankets, dead to the world.

"Of course not. If they were hollow cubs in Hueco Mundo I'd be leaving all the time to hunt." He grunted and the scientist looked interested. "Any cub that wails every time the dam isn't there is going to be eaten before too long." Hollow cubs didn't make loud noises often, and only when the dam was present to defend them.

"I see. Interesting. Tell me more about normal hollow families." The scientist demanded and Grimmjow sighed to himself before explaining how hollows reproduced and behaved. He had to have some of this information already from the records Unohana had brought, but the freak still seemed interested anyway. Grimmjow didn't really care.

He just wanted his adopted cubs to be safe, and if that meant talking, he'd do it without a second thought.

* * *

"Kurosaki-kun!" Ichigo jerked up out of his blankets at that familiar and completely unexpected voice.

"Orihime?" He asked disbelievingly as the orange haired young woman beamed at him. And with her was… "Ishida? Chad?" He pulled himself out of the blankets, disturbing Nel and the babies. With Grimmjow gone, Nel had become a permanent fixture in his rooms. Her brothers often stayed with them too, giving the children plenty of love and patient attention.

"They are so big." Chad murmured as he knelt down. Kai toddled over to him on unsteady feet and the young man caught the baby before he could fall, smiling. "And they're walking. Beautiful."

"Uh, yes… but what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked, flabbergasted. Ishida pushed back his glasses, looking down with a smile as Masaki grabbed his leg. The babies remembered his friends and were eager to greet them.

"We've come to help you rescue Grimmjow!" Orihime chirped and Ichigo felt his mind come unglued. Rescue? "Renji and Rukia managed to get us a message and Urahara opened a portal to Hueco Mundo. Ichigo, he's alive!" Ichigo's heart leapt at those words and he couldn't help but grin widely.

"He's in Kurosaki-taichou's clutches." Ishida said harshly and his heart plummeted. They all knew that could be a fate worse than death. "We know where he's being held, all the information Renji and Rukia could get us. Will Harribel be willing to help?"

"She will when I'm done with her." Ichigo said, determined. Nel gave a loud cheer and they all winced as the babies started to cry. "Nel!"

"Sorry Itsygo! We gotta get Gwimmy back! Hawwibel will help! You can do it!" She said happily and Ichigo smiled, scooping up the eternal child and hugging her for a moment. He really appreciated the vote of confidence.

"Thanks Nel. Can you look after the babies for a bit? We need to go talk to Harribel." He was pretty sure she'd heard about the visitors already. Whoever they managed to meet would have sent her word immediately. "Hey, how did you convince the arrancar to bring you here?" He asked curiously and Ishida shrugged.

"We told them we were your friends from the Living World, and several of them recognized Orihime. They did say that if we were lying they would kill us." Ishida didn't seem very concerned about that threat. "Harribel?"

"Right." Ichigo led them out of the nest, feeling both elated and apprehensive. Grimmjow was alive, but he'd been in Kurotsuchi's hands for nearly a week. That was plenty of time to do some horrifying things, but he pushed the thought away.

He just had to rescue Grimmjow as fast as he could.


	19. Something to Live For

Violetta licked her lips as she readied herself for mayhem.

It was beyond strange. Once upon a time, she had been among the weakest of the arrancar. She possessed a sword but she'd never been able to access her resurrection. That was absolutely pitiful, and it had made her the most useless arrancar in Aizen's army. She'd gotten by keeping her head down and simply tending to her duties in the kitchen, and being pliant and biddable any time another Numero or, even worse, a Privaron Espada took notice of her. No Espada had ever looked her way, something she had been thankful for. Halibel had taken her into her army because she was an arrancar, not because she was useful. Violetta had never expected to ever be useful.

Then Grimmjow and Ichigo had arrived, and everything had changed. For the first time since she had been an adjuchas, her power had truly answered her. Violetta had not been a weak adjuchas and now it seemed she'd found where that power had gone.

So now she was spearheading the attack on Mayuri's research facility. To have so much responsibility put on her shoulders was both terrifying and exhilarating, but she was the only one who could do it. Ichigo had the raw power but not the control over his reiatsu. Ishida had the control but not the power, and his abilities might be too foreign anyhow. Orihime and the rest of the kido kids were out of the question. What she was going to do might burn any of them out. Turning to look at the other six of Grimmjow's kido students she saw the arrancar were ready and eager to begin. As soon as they started to charge their power Mayuri would detect it, but it wouldn't matter. He wouldn't be ready for this.

"Begin." Violetta said calmly as she centered herself, slipping into a meditative state. All of the kido kids began charging the same spell, Red Flame Cannon. It was a very common and relatively easy spell, yet also quite destructive.

Instead of releasing them individually, the other arrancar flowed the power of their kido to her. That was a very dangerous thing for any shinigami to do. The strain of channelling seven spells at once could be fatal, but Violetta was different, just as Grimmjow was different. She contained the essence of several shinigami and at least one of them had been powerful. She gathered the power and combined it with her own before releasing the Red Flame Cannon.

The ball of power that hit the Twelfth Division was as strong as a Gran Rey Cero and far less expected. Steel blew apart under the impact, creating a breach in the formidable defences. And then the arrancar attacked.

Harribel led the attack and Violetta just paused to catch her breath. Channelling that much shinigami power might be possible for her, but it didn't mean it was pleasant. So she was outside when reinforcements arrived.

It wasn't at all surprising and Harribel had planned for it. The arrancar had to hold the garganta so they could make a quick exit as soon as they rescued their comrades. Gantenbainne and Uryuu had pulled that duty. Violetta watched as they fended off shinigami, but did not move to help. She could almost feel the stress she'd placed on her kido channels and kido was the only power she had. If she kept using it right after channeling that much, she might obliterate her ability to use it for hours. Then she wouldn't be able to defend herself at all.

Of course, that didn't mean the shinigami wouldn't attack her. Sure enough, she quickly found herself fending off a few basic shinigami. They thought she was weak but Violetta soon proved otherwise, taking them with nothing but swordwork. Her swordsmanship had improved dramatically under Grimmjow's watchful eye.

To her absolute pleasure, arrancar were soon spilling out of the facility. She smiled as she felt a very familiar reiatsu. Soon they would be out of here, back to Hueco Mundo.

Then something strange happened. Little petals of pink began to flow past her and Violetta had the strangest feeling that she _knew_ them. She stared at them, wondering what they could be, and then her eyes widened in alarm as Ichigo came out of the building. He was helping Grimmjow, who was holding two babies? The petals flew more thickly and she suddenly knew they were dangerous.

"No!" She leapt in front of Ichigo and Grimmjow, erecting a spot shield of kido. It wasn't very effective as the petals sleeted by, wounding her and attempting to tear at her friends. But Ichigo was fast, fast enough to block them.

"Violetta, help Grimmjow! I'll deal with him." Ichigo ordered her sharply but Violetta did not obey. She'd never had memories from her past life before this moment but they were rising up fast and furious as she saw the shinigami with the white scarf. She knew him. He'd been much younger and that scarf had not been his, but she knew him.

"No." Her voice had taken on a masculine timber. Her souls were predominantly female but she'd taken in plenty male ones, and one of her primaries was male. His memories were returning to her, filling her with certainty. "I will deal with him. Get Grimmjow out of here." He couldn't fight carrying the children. That thought ignited her anger and her eyes narrowed as she looked at the shinigami. Had he not noticed they were there? "Wilt, Kuroikaze." She tilted her sword to the side, resting a hand on the blade. It vanished in a hissing sound.

Streamers of black flowed around her and Violetta knew that if they slowed down, it would be possible to see them for what they were… pitch black locusts, eternally hungry. This was the first time she'd ever released her sword and now she knew why.

_It didn't seal my arrancar power. It was never a sword the way every other arrancar has… it was a real zanpakuto. _Violetta lifted her hands and directed the voracious swarm. If she let them, they would eat down everything around them, including her own allies. Kuroikaze was the black wind that destroyed everything in his path. _Strange that I used his name for my last name. I always remembered him._ Not consciously, but she had known this power living inside her.

Black locusts danced with sakura petals and the sakura was losing. The locusts regarded it as food and sought to devour the razor edged petals, and they were managing it. Then Byakuya lifted his hands and Violetta gasped as his speed abruptly increased. She had to struggle to keep up and she could hear the locusts shrill with empty rage and soulless hunger. To them, a tree would always be prey.

"Who are you?" The shinigami demanded of her as black and pink continued to clash. Kuroikaze was not winning anymore, but he was not losing either. Senbonzakura was getting the measure of his opponent and managing to protect his petals from the swarm. Violetta did not let the question distract her as she continued directing the locusts. "How do you dare wear the kenseikan, arrancar?" He sounded quite offended that she would wear the mark of the Kuchiki clan. Although she didn't wear it, it was actually part of her hair and impossible to remove.

_You know who I am, Byakuya._ Violetta thought but her lips did not move. She was too wise for that. It was better to keep him guessing, uncertain. _You only saw this power once before, but you know it. _Violet blue eyes met grey and it felt like they were standing in a moment of suspended time. She saw the realization flash through those eyes, followed by anger. Pink energy flowed out from him and Violetta marvelled at it for a moment.

Then it formed rows and rows of swords, surrounding them. She was still preternaturally calm, even as she heard Ichigo cry out. Why was he still here? Hopefully Grimmjow had already gone through the garganta. Then she gasped as pink blades slashed at her. Yet the pain was vague and distant compared to the thrumming power that was building in the core of her being.

"Swarm, Kuroikazi." She said and the buzzing behind her grew to a fever pitch. Blood dripped down her face and a locust landed there, lapping it up. If she let him, her zanpakuto would devour her as well.

That was the challenge of her bankai. There were no fancy techniques, nothing to master. It was not like Senbonzakura, Zangetsu or oven Zabimaru. It required only the strength to avoid destruction and Violetta had that. She'd found her strength in the endless quest for evolution, in the sands of Hueco Mundo.

Denied the right to feast on her body, the locust lifted away from her face. Byakuya was gazing over her head, expressionless, at the form of absolute darkness that was taking shape behind her. Her clothing whipped in a spectral wind as great, slitted eyes of yellow light began to open. They were set in a 'face' that was a rodent like skull, formed of millions of restless bugs. Violetta dared to look behind her, briefly glancing over the stick thin limbs with long, spidery fingers and decided that she had the most repulsive bankai to ever exist. She could hear Kuroikaze's laughter in her mind.

She commanded the swarm to attack just as petals swirled in a mighty gale. A hand of darkness reached forward and the rodent skull parted, sending forth a torrent of locusts as –

Violetta's eyes went wide as the rows of pink swords suddenly shattered, sundered by blue light. It was a cero of incredible power and it stank of madness and rage. Fortunately, the breaking of Senbonzakura's bankai took a great deal of its power or Byakuya would have died at that moment. It still hit the shinigami like a battering ram and Violetta watched the blue energy sweep him away in horror.

"Starrk-sama." She whispered as she looked up into the sky. She knew the power of the Primera, although she'd only felt it twice. He was screaming something and firing off cero after cero at the shinigami. But there was something very wrong about him. Violetta didn't have time to worry about it as Kuroikazi tested her control. She needed to find something for him to destroy, and quickly.

Fortunately that was easy. She heard the cry of a baby and blinked at the huge, centipede thing on one end of the battlefield. She had no idea what powers it had, but it was clearly a bankai and not Ichigo's. A perfect target.

"Destroy that!" She snapped at her bankai and Kuroikaze rose in the air with a shrill sound of delight. Violetta didn't wait to see the outcome. Instead she sprinted towards the fallen shinigami. If he was dead it would tear her male primary in two. She wasn't sure she would be able to survive that wound.

But he was alive, if just barely. Kneeling beside the battered, seared body she called healing kido to her hands and began to mend the worst of the injuries. As the warm power soothed burned flesh, grey eyes opened and looked at her.

"Why don't you talk to me?" He whispered and Violetta glanced at him, surprised. "Am I so beneath you?"

"Of course not." She said, shocked by the idea. "I was just keeping you uncertain, at first." She said as she turned her attention back to her kido. There was so much damage. "Then I was thinking too much. I always thought too much." She said under her breath and smiled at Byakuya's pained chuckle.

"Yes… grandfather always said that about you…" He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. "I will give you konso, father." Byakuya declared in a shaky voice and Violetta scowled.

"I don't want it." She said tartly before pulling her hands away. He would survive to reach the Fourth, that was all that mattered. "And now is hardly the time for threats." Although he really didn't mean it that way. She knew that. Glancing around she saw Kuroikaze and the baby centipede thing were gone, and her sword was on the ground beside her. Picking it up she saw Harribel carrying an unconscious Starrk over one shoulder as she headed for the garganta. The shinigami were defeated, for the most part, and it was time for them to leave. "Some other time, Bya-kun." She said the nickname without thinking before using sonido. So she missed the faint wetness in grey eyes.

It was a strange and painful way to meet a long departed relative.

* * *

Grimmjow couldn't help his tension as Ichigo helped him through the garganta.

He was glad to be free of course. There was no doubt about that! The children would be safe from that lunatic, now. But the budding life inside him… Grimmjow swallowed as all the practical difficulties ran through his mind. It would start with Kurosaki's hollow but not end there, not by a long shot.

He pushed the problems aside as Ichigo paused to pick him up. It was awkward with the babies and he finally gave them up to one of the numeros and Violetta. His kido protégé was looking battered and he made a note to question her about that black stuff she'd been using later. Much later. He had more important things on his mind.

"Grimmjow, what's wrong? What did Kurotsuchi do to you?" Ichigo asked in concern as he used shunpo, carrying the arrancar off. Grimmjow grimaced, wishing he didn't need to be carried. But until the limiters Mayuri had put on him were removed he couldn't use sonido.

"Not a lot. Just kept me in a room and fed me. He used me to feed the babies." He said and winced as he heard Kurosaki's hollow hiss at him. This close, the hollow could reach him a little even without the old collar. And the threats it was making were ugly. "… I'm carrying a new litter." He finally said and Ichigo almost stumbled.

"That's why my hollow is – you shut up!" He ordered and Grimmjow was certain he was talking to his hollow. "Kurotsuchi raped you?" The teen asked with a steely glint in his brown eyes. Grimmjow blinked at the thought.

"No, he just stuck me with something while I was unconscious – hoi!" They'd just reached the nest and Ichigo put him down. Nel was outside waiting for them, probably so she could puke on the injured. But she took one look at Grimmjow and lost it.

"Gwimmy! Yer a mommy again!" The child arrancar launched herself at him and Grimmjow caught her neatly, smiling as she wiggled ecstatically against him. She had no clue, but it was really very cute. "Will you adwopt me again?" She asked eagerly and he could only sigh.

"Yeah, sure. But don't you have a job to do?" He reminded her as the wounded started coming. Nel's eyes widened and she quickly hopped down.

"Wight!" She ran over to an injured arrancar and immediately began forcing herself to puke all over the unfortunate fellow. Fortunately for his mental health, he was already unconscious. Grimmjow took back the two babies, glad that Nel hadn't spotted them yet. As he took them he glanced at Ichigo. He was scowling and Grimmjow could almost smell his temper rising.

"Let's get to the nest." Ichigo said abruptly and Grimmjow nodded, feeling sick. He wasn't looking forward to this discussion but it had to happen, and he'd much rather it was in private.

Fortunately, it could be put off almost indefinitely. When they got back to their room there were three squeals of delight and Grimmjow grinned as all three of his offspring toddled over. Masaki reached him first and hugged his leg, babbling in delight and squeezing him as hard as she could with her little hands. Her brothers arrived just a bit behind her and Grimmjow blinked at the… things stuck to Kai's horns.

"Hey there rugrats. What's with the fashion accessories?" He would have reached down to pet their hair, but the babies in his arms were a problem. And he really didn't want to keep shifting them around. He could sense they were exhausted and afraid, a bad combination. "Ichigo, can you pry them off for a moment? I need to settle in the little ones." If he could just get them into something their instincts would recognize as a nest they might calm down and sleep. They hadn't made a single sound during the battle, but that was due to fear. So much fear wasn't good for the little things.

It took a lot of cajoling from Ichigo but he managed to get the children distracted long enough for Grimmjow to settle the babies into some blankets. He pulled his reiatsu over them and the two infants finally relaxed as instincts said they were safe. The poor things fell asleep almost instantly, worn out by the excitement of the day. Which was good, because nothing could keep his cubs away from him for long. Grimmjow laughed as all three of them mobbed him again.

"We put those on Kai's horns after he almost took one of Ryuu's eyes out." Ichigo said quietly and Grimmjow scowled at his errant offspring, who just grinned up at him happily. "It was an accident, he turned his head at just the wrong time."

"Probably a good idea until their hierro comes in." Grimmjow agreed. He could just imagine Kai turning a corner when someone else was coming the other direction. Something that was usually amusing could quickly turn tragic. "He doesn't mind, does he?" Pulling off those little caps wouldn't be hard for the cub. Ichigo sighed, shaking his head.

"He loves them. They let him ram his siblings without worrying about getting bitten or smacked." He said, smiling tolerantly as Kai head butted Grimmjow's leg. "Now, you said Mayuri did something to you while you were unconscious?" Ichigo's tone said he already knew, but he wanted to make sure of the details. Grimmjow just looked at the cubs for a moment before gently picking up Masaki and cuddling her close.

"He knocked me up with a shinigami reiatsu sample." He said, smiling as Masaki giggled and grabbed his hands. "I don't know who it belonged to. He just said it was the one that resonated best with me. It wasn't really rape." To him, rape meant blood, sweat and tears. Ichigo touched his shoulder and Grimmjow looked up to see the teen giving him a severe look.

"Grimmjow, he violated your unconscious body. That is rape." He said firmly and Grimmjow blinked before frowning. He could see where Ichigo was coming from, but…

"I guess, but I'm not upset about that. I'm upset because of the… practical difficulties." That was a common attitude for his time, he knew. Rape was worthy of outrage, of course, but the practical difficulties of having a child unwed were so pressing and potentially lethal that they outweighed it. He looked into Ichigo's face and could see the teen didn't understand. "Ichigo… these new babies, what are we going to do with them?" He looked at the two cubs, still deeply asleep in their blankets. "Their dam ate one of them and the sire could be dead. Will we keep them? And this new litter. Ichigo, there's going to be seven of them." Grimmjow couldn't keep the despair out of his voice and Ichigo bit his lip as he realized what the arrancar was getting at. "If I have a larger litter it could be as many as nine. It's going to be hard here but if we get back to the Living World, what the hell are we going to do?" Seven babies was insane. Nine was insane plus two. "Maybe I should let your hollow make me abort." He muttered, although the thought revolted him. All his instincts rejected it but his intellect knew better.

"No." Ichigo said forcefully before reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "We'll make it work Grimm. We'll find a way." He said comfortingly before letting go so he could scoop up an annoyed little Kai. That left Ryuu still hugging Grimmjow's leg and he picked that moment to talk.

"Damma!" He said happily and they both looked down at him, surprised.

"Was he trying to say dam?" Grimmjow said uncertainly and Ichigo laughed, reaching down to ruffle light blue hair.

"I think so – Orihime!" He smiled at the door and Grimmjow looked up to see the woman peeking in. She quickly stepped inside as she saw they weren't really having a private moment. "How is everyone? Did they all make it?" He asked, concerned. He'd been too wrapped up in Grimmjow and the cubs before, but he wanted to make sure his friends were alright. Orihime smiled and nodded.

"Everyone is fine, Kurosaki-kun. All the arrancar made it too! There were a few badly injured but I got to them in time." She said happily. But then her smile abruptly faded. "But… I can't heal Starrk-san. Harribel-san would like to see you, Grimmjow-kun."

"Starrk?" Grimmjow gently set Masaki down as his mind raced. "Starrk…" So that was the other Espada Mayuri had captured. He'd thought he sensed the wolf's reiatsu on the battlefield, but it had been so warped he hadn't been certain. "Shit, what did that bastard do to him?" He muttered then glanced at the sleeping cubs. "…" Looking at the little one with brown hair, he suddenly knew who their sire must be. Of course Kurotsuchi would use the most powerful arrancar at his disposal. "Where is he? With Szayel?" That seemed like a good bet. Orihime nodded. "I need to see him anyway. Can you two look after the rugrats?" He scooped up the little ones and they both woke up with a start. Then they settled in against his chest. They were too tired to stay awake now that they sensed they were safe.

"Of course." Ichigo said immediately. He knew what Grimmjow wanted… to get the reiatsu limiters off. Szayel could check them to make sure there were no traps before removing them. Orihime nodded with a smile and took Masaki, who was trying to follow Grimmjow. She looked very unhappy and started to cry as he left the room, which made him wince. But hopefully they'd be able to calm to cub down.

Szayel was absolutely ecstatic to see him, which was more than a little alarming.

"Grimmjow! I see you're pregnant again, excellent! I'll get to monitor an actual arrancar gestation!" He sounded almost giddy at the prospect and Grimmjow set his jaw. "And what are these?" He peered at the babies and beamed. "Arrancar offspring! Could I have one for my experiments?"

"Not a chance in hell. Can you get this shit off me? And where's Starrk?" He asked and Szayel pouted a moment before checking the limiters. It didn't take him long to determine there were no traps, and using a small tool he forced them open. Grimmjow sighed as he felt control return to him. Those limiters hadn't been too bad, but he was glad to feel his powers answer him.

"Starrk's right over here." Szayel led him out of the main research area to a side cavern. Grimmjow frowned as he saw the kido barriers someone had erected around it. They weren't a kido spell he was familiar with, which was odd. He made a mental note to question Violetta thoroughly. Something was up with that girl and he wanted to know what.

The barriers seemed a bit superfluous, though. Inside, Starrk was lying against a wall. He was slumped there, completely ignoring Harribel. The Tres Espada was kneeling beside him and talking to him quietly, telling him all the things that had happened since he was lost. Grimmjow paused for a moment, looking over the wolf with a frown.

He looked and felt very different. Physically, he looked almost like he was in his released form. One eye was missing, surrounded by the usual bone eyepatch. His clothing looked like his released state, but minus the paws and the black stripy things. His collar of bone was present, too, which wasn't right. And his guns were completely missing.

"I had to purge a great deal of foreign reiatsu from him, as well as parasites and other junk." Szayel said quietly as Grimmjow examined the Primera. "However, the real problem seems to be the loss of his zanpakuto. There is nothing I or Orihime can do to rectify that."

"The loss of his…" Grimmjow had to close his eyes at the horror of it. He could imagine how he would feel if Pantera was gone. When they sealed away their powers, those powers took on an independent personality. Starrk's had just been more prominent than most, manifesting as an actual separate person. "Fuck." No wonder Starrk was almost in a coma. Grimmjow opened his eyes to see the Primera staring at the ground between his legs. "Starrk." He knelt down far too close, practically planting a knee between Starrk's legs. But that forced the other arrancar to see him and Starrk wearily lifted his gaze. "What happened to Lilynette?" He had to know. If Mayuri had done this, the shinigami was going to die, sooner rather than later. Starrk blinked and tears gathered in his remaining eye. For a moment Grimmjow thought he wouldn't respond but then he spoke, his voice a dull rasp.

"She… spoke to me, as we were dying. She said… I had to go on… help everyone… and she… she…" Starrk put a hand over his face, shaking his head for a moment. "She gave her life for… me… and it didn't even… the shinigami captured me. I couldn't… do what she wanted…" The wolf turned his head to the side, looking at the floor again. "I have nothing to live for." The utter despair in his voice was hard to hear.

"But you do. Starrk, look." Grimmjow shifted the babies so they were facing the Primera. But he didn't look. "Look you fucking bastard!" Grimmjow snarled before shoving himself closer, forcing the little babies against his chest. There were protesting meeps and Starrk finally looked down, confused by what had just been pressed against him. His single grey eye looked down at the infants in confusion.

"Why are you showing me this?" He asked quietly and Grimmjow wasn't too surprised. Kurotsuchi had used reiatsu samples on him, he'd probably done the same with Starrk and the unknown dam.

"They're yours." Grimmjow said and saw the Primera stiffen in shock. "That fucking scientist knocked up an insect bitch with your seed. These are your cubs, Starrk." And the cubs knew it. They were both looking at him wide eyes and hopeful little faces.

"Mine…?" That finally put a bit of life into Starrk's face and he reached out with a trembling hand to touch soft purple curls. "What are their names?" He asked as he gazed over the two babies, his eye settling on the one with the brown hair, the one that looked like him. Grimmjow shrugged.

"I didn't name them. I was afraid that fucking scientist might take them away from me and put them in a bottle, so I didn't name them." It had been the only way he had to maintain any kind of distance. "You can name 'em Starrk." He said gently. Starrk lifted his gaze to look into his face and Grimmjow was glad to see wonder in the Primera's face. Then he gently set his hand on one little head.

"Lily." He named the purple one, then touched the brown one, stroking her cheek. "Netta." Then he carefully took the children from Grimmjow, cradling them against his chest as the tears flowed down his face. Harribel and Grimmjow both watched. This might not heal the Primera, but it would give him something to live for.

Lilynette's sacrifice would not be in vain.


End file.
